PS, I Love You
by MyToxicValentine
Summary: When Bella and Edward are assigned class pen pals,they are unknowingly paired with each other. Bella and Edward start a friendship outside of their letters, not knowing that they share everything. When they discover the truth, how will they react? BXE OOC
1. Chapter 1

AN: Incredibly OOC, so don't complain about it because I am warning you now.

I am not Stephenie Meyer, nor will I ever be.

**Edward's POV**

I woke up for the first day back from Christmas break tired and hung over. I was starting my last semester at Forks today with a feeling of excitement and boredom. I was excited that in roughly five months I would be out of that place for good, but it was still school. And school is lame no matter how close you are to graduating.

I pulled on my grey skinny jeans that were laying on the floor, and pulled a New Found Glory tshirt out of my dresser. My hair was unruly, but there wasn't enough time to shower, so I picked up my beanie and put it on my head.

Emmett met me at my locker. We exchanged a fist bump, and I opened up my locker just to put my empty backpack in it. We leaned against as we waited for Jasper and Alice to show up, and people watched. First day back was usually as good as it gets. Teachers never do anything but pass out books, and you can see what changes people made over break. It was like a fresh start.

Jasper and Alice finally showed up, and the remaining five minutes were spent talking about what we all did the past ten hours when we hadn't seen each other. Our answers were pretty much the same, ate, and slept. That's pretty much the only thing we do.

"Come on man; let's go so we can get the back seats in Armstrong's class." Emmett said when the warning bell sounded.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's get as far away from that lisp as possible."

Emmett and I booked it down the hallway, and got our seats in the back just like we wanted. We rated everyone that walked in, and made sure that nobody sat next to us, in case someone better came in. Shelby Foster came in, she rolled her eyes when she saw me. I blew her a kiss and she scoffed, taking a seat in the front.

"Still bitter that you wouldn't date her?" Emmett asked.

"Guess so."

The bell rang and Mr. Armstrong took roll. Blaine Andrew walked in late, Mr. Armstrong tried his best to scold him, but Blaine just walked on by and took a seat next to Emmett. Everyone knew Mr. Armstrong was a joke; he would never send anyone down to the office, and he hardly ever enforced classroom rules.

"Alright guys, I know usually we don't do anything on the first day back, but this year is going to be a little different."

The class groaned and he rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, this is easy. We're going to be doing an ongoing project all semester. You guys are going to be getting a pen pal from another senior comp class of mine. So right now, just take out a piece of paper and write about yourself. Don't use your real name though, we want to keep this anonymous." He said.

Emmett and I rolled our eyes at the same time, and flipped our notebooks open.

_First off I guess I should let you know that this I find this whole thing stupid. Pen pals are so fifth grade, for real. But now that that's cleared up, my name's Anthony.__ As you know, I'm a senior. I'm six foot tall and athletically built. I'm loud, obnoxious, and love to have a good time. I think school's a joke and a complete waste of my time. Anyway, I hope you're not some nerd that I've just offend by calling a nerd and insulting school, but I honestly just don't care.__  
__Sincerely, Anthony_

_PS, I really hope I didn't offend you._

I laughed as I reread my letter, then folded it in half and stuffed it in the envelope Armstrong had passed out. The bell rang and Emmett and I got up, dropping our letters in the big at the front of the room on our way back.

"What did you use for a pin name?" Emmett asked.

"Anthony, you?"

"Middle name, name why didn't I think of that?" Emmett asked as he smacked his forehead.

"Can you're an idiot, anyway what did you use?"

"X-man."

"You really are an idiot."

**Bella's POV**

The first day back was always hectic. By the time I made it to sixth period English I was ready to scream. Not only did I have some of the worst teachers for some of the hardest classes, but my feet were aching from my new black strappy Prada heels. I collapsed into my desk next to Rosalie and slid my feet out of my shoes.

"I told you that you would have broken them in first." She said with a smirk.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I just got them last night, I didn't have time and I really wanted to wear them today."

She rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."

The bell rang and Mr. Armstrong took roll. Usually I preferred to sit somewhere near the front of the room, but everyone knew about Mr. Armstrong's lisp, so Rose and I sat just three rows from the back. We definitely didn't want to be anywhere near Armstrong when he spoke, and I pitied the people who had to be.

"So, I'm going to walk around, and I want each of you to pull out an envelope. Inside that envelope should be a short description about the pen pal that you'll be writing to everyday this semester. After you read it, I want you to write back, telling them a little bit about you." Armstrong said and picked a bag up off his desk.

"Isn't pen pals what we used to do in grade school?" I asked Rosalie with an eye roll.

She shrugged. "I think it could be fun."

"Right." I said sarcastically as Mr. Armstrong approached my desk. I smiled at him politely and pulled one out quickly, allowing him to move on. I opened my envelope and pulled the paper out.

_First off I guess I should let you know that this I find this whole thing stupid. Pen pals are so grade five, for real. But now that that's cleared up, my name's Anthony. As you know, I'm a senior. I'm six foot tall and athletically built. I'm loud, obnoxious, and love to have a good time. I think school's a joke and a complete waste of my time. Anyway, I hope you're not some nerd that I've just offend by calling a nerd and insulting school, but I honestly just don't care.__  
__Sincerely, Anthony_

_PS, I really hope I didn't offend you._

I laughed as I read through the letter. Even though I made great grades, I hated school too. I had always dreamed about being a fashion designer, but those dreams were destroyed when my parents decided that that wasn't a suitable career choice for me. I knew that my pen pal, Anthony, was lying about his appearance. He had to be, I've known most of my class since grade school. There's no way I missed a six foot tall, athletically built guy.

I pulled my paper out after reading the letter a few times I began to write my response.

_Like you, I find this project incredibly lame. Since you weren't that carefully as to not step on feelings, I feel like that something that I should return to you. I really don't understand why were doing this, if I want to talk to someone that's what I have my friends for, not some random person in another class. Anyway, my name's Iz__, and just so we're clear and in case you can' tell from the handwriting, I am, in fact, a girl. I'm only five feet, two inches but I wear heels a lot to make me taller. I love sports, and on the weekends I usually sleep in past noon.__  
__Sincerely, Iz_

_PS, no offense taken._

I folded my note and stuffed it in envelope writing my pen pals name on the front. When the bell rang, I slid my shoes back on and Rosalie and I handed our letters to Armstrong.

"Leave it to Armstrong to come up with the lamest project in history." I said and rolled my eyes.

"I'm telling you Bella, this could be fun."

"Fun, right. Can't wait."

* * *

**Should I make Bella a blond? Or should she stay a brunette? Just put your preference in a review.**

**~SoWrongItsRegan**


	2. Chapter 2

Not mine :(

**Edward's POV**

The letters were passed around the room and I grabbed mine out of the stack, and then passed them over to Emmett. I rolled my eyes as I tore it open, almost sure that I was going to have the lamest pen pal ever. That just seemed to be the way things worked. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I read the snide reply Iz had sent me.

I looked over at Emmett who was reading his letter with a look of disgust on his face. He looked at me, and cringed as crumbled the letter into a paper ball and tossed it into the trashcan.

"Dude, I got the shittiest pen pal ever." He said as he rolled his eyes.

"It can't be that bad."

"Since when are you optimistic about this project?"

"Since my pen pal is awesome." I said

Emmett reached over and pulled the letter out of my hands. He skimmed it, laughing at the same parts I'm sure I did and handed it back. He shook his head and punched my arm.

"Not fair, you didn't even want to do this and you get someone cool. I was totally down with this and my pen pal not only collects leafs and volunteers at the animal shelter, but also reads to the elderly every Tuesday after school. Talk about no life."

I laughed loudly, getting a disapproving look from Mr. Armstrong. I stifled my laugh and pulled out a clean piece of paper.

"Dude." Emmett said and smacked my arm.

"Not now man, I'm writing to my awesome pen pal." I said with a smirk

Emmett rolled his eyes and stole my notebook. He ripped out a sheet of paper and then tossed it back onto my desk with a huff.

"Have fun writing to your grandma." I said and laughed again.

"Shut the hell up." he said and began writing.

_Iz,  
__I'm glad I didn't offend you in my last letter. I guess you could say that I was just bitter because I thought I was going to get someone who knits sweaters for the homeless. Basically, someone that I wouldn't get along with. But you don't seem too bad. Don't let that go to your head though, because it's not like I said that you're awesome or anything. I guess I should tell you more about myself though, since we'll be talking pretty often. I'm not going to tell you exactly what I look like in case you're some creepy stalker girl and figure out who I am. So I'll just stick with a basic, generic description. I have two arms, two legs, two eyes and mouth. My head has hair on it, and since I'm a dude, I have a dick. I like music and food a lot. On the weekends I'm probably getting drunk with my best friends, or vegging out in front of my tv playing xbox live. I think that's enough for this segment of 'Get to know Anthony."__  
__Peace._

_PS, if you're not a creep, I could totally see us being friends. Kind of._

Once I was satisfied with my letter I folded it, stuffed it in my envelope and scribbled Iz's name across the front. I turned to Emmett and saw him smirking as he sealed his envelope.

"What did you say to your pen pal?" I asked skeptically.

Emmett shrugged. "Nothing much. Just talked about how much I love to get drunk and laid. Can't wait to see what my pen pal has to say to that."

I laughed and shook my head at him. "You would."

**Bella's POV**

"Girl, you killed us on the court." Angela said as we walked out of the locker room after P.E.

I shrugged and pulled my bag up so it wouldn't fall off my shoulder. "I did alright."

"Alright? Bella you played against me and Angela and totally kicked our butts!" Rosalie exclaimed.

I smiled. "Well I didn't make varsity for nothing."

"There's the cocky Bella that we all know and love." Angela said.

The bell rang and Rose and I parted ways with Angela to go to English. I sighed knowing that after this class I had my hour study hall and then it was back to the tennis courts for practice. It seemed almost cruel that I only had two hours to relax between P.E. and practice, but it sure beat having them back to back like I did last year.

I grabbed my letter off Armstrong's desk as I walked by to get to my seat. I opened it carefully, and pulled the paper out. As I read through the letter, I found myself laughing out how ridiculous this is. Not only the project, but my pen pal. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, and a mouth, seriously? I rolled my eyes at how sarcastic it was and thanked God that I got someone with a sense of humor.

"What are you laughing at?" Rose asked from beside me.

"My pen pal, he's humorous."

Rosalie beamed. "See, I told you this wouldn't be so bad."

I shrugged. "The semester just started, there's time for the bottom to fall out of this."

She rolled her eyes. "Why ya gotta be such a downer?" she teased.

I stuck my tongue out at her and flipped my notebook open. I read through the letter one more time before deciding to start writing my response.

_Anthony,__  
__Wow, I must say, I was impressed with your description. Not only was it comical, but it also served its purpose of being completely useless. You have succeeded in making it impossible for me to figure out who you are, which may be a good thing for you. Because who knows, maybe I am one of those crazy girls that would start stalking you, or perhaps even kill you? You never know. Our descriptions are similar, if you switch the dick part for vag then you pretty much described me, but I bet my hair is longer than yours. Personality wise, I'm sure you've realized by now that I'm pretty sarcastic, it's nice to see that you are as well. On weekends you can find my friends and I having sober fun. Drinking's just not my thing, I don't mind being around it, but I rarely participate. Like you, I love music, but I think that most people do. And I currently live and breathe Call of Duty.__  
Iz_

_PS, ..who says I want to be friends? Just kidding, kind of._

The bell rang, so I ripped my page out of my notebook and shoved in the envelope. I wrote his name in capital letters across the envelope and handed it to Mr. Armstrong.

"Come on, we're gonna be late." Rose said from beside the door.

"I'm hurrying." I said as I picked up my purse and book. I walked towards the door as I tried to hoist my purse onto my shoulder, close my notebook, and carry my two others book all at the same thing. It was working out well until I stepped outside the door and slammed hard into someone.

I fell to the floor, making my stuff scatter in the hall. I looked over and saw Edward Cullen also on the floor of the hallway and rubbing his chest. He stood up, and offered me his hand to help me up. I took it graciously and picked up my notebook.

"I think your book just punctured my chest." He said as he rubbed it with one hand and handed me my books with the other.

I smiled at him apologetically. "Sorry, those World History books will get ya every time."

He laughed lightly. "Well, sorry about knocking you down."

"Come on Bella, the bell's about to ring." Rose said.

I gave Edward a small smile, before turning on my heel and following Rosalie to study hall. I looked over my shoulder to see if Edward was still standing there, but he was already gone. I sighed and brushed off the feeling disappointment. I had more important things to worry about than some random guy that I had just talked to, even if he was incredibly gorgeous.


	3. Chapter 3

You already know what I was gonna say.

**Edward's POV**

"Dude, quit staring." Emmett said with a smirk after he slapped my arm.

I tore my eyes away from Bella and scoffed. "I'm not staring."

"We've been talking about tampons for ten minutes and you had no idea, you're staring." Jasper stated.

"Why the hell are you guys even talking about tampons?"

"Just to see if you'd notice." Jasper said with a shrug.

"Which you didn't, cause you were too busy staring." Emmett added.

I rolled my eyes as the warning bell rang. "Whatever, let's just get to English."

Emmett and Jasper smirked at each other, I rolled my eyes again and we started walking to class. We said goodbye to Jasper at the end of the hallway since he was going right, and we were going left.

Emmett and I grabbed our letters off Armstrong's desk, and I started opening mine as I walked to my seat. Emmett smirked again as I started reading.

"For someone who was so against this you sure are anxious to read your letter."

"That's because my pen pal is awesome." I replied without tearing my eyes away from Iz's response.

Emmett laughed as he read his own and began laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"My pen pal said that I should seek professional help because I sound crazy."

"That's because you are crazy, bro."

"Whatever, what else did Iz say?"

I passed him the letter and he skimmed it with a smile on his face and then handed it back.

"I'm still incredibly jealous that your pen pal is so freaking cool. She doesn't drink though, that blows."

I shrugged and tore out a piece of paper. "It's whatever."

"What should I say to my pen pal this week?" Emmett asked.

"Tell her that you worship eggshells or something stupid like that, that'll really freak her out."

"Good idea!" Emmett exclaimed and immediately started writing.

_Iz,__  
__First, why the hell wouldn't you want to be friends with me? I'm pretty awesome, and I'm sure you've realized this by now. That was a hateful remark, but luckily, I decided not to hold it against you. It's cool that drinking isn't your thing, I have friends who feel the same way. I respect that, but for the record, if you turn out to be as cool as you sound so far, and you ever want to get drunk, I can totally help with that. I can't believe that you play xbox! That's wicked cool, are you sure you're not really a boy? Well, I guess I could tell you more about me, cause I know that you're interested. I could eat Mac n Cheese every single day of my life, I love it that much. And I taught myself how to play guitar. Music is an incredibly huge part of my life. You're totally right that most people love music, but not to the extent that I love it. Well, class is about to end.__  
__Later_

_PS, I could destroy you at Call of Duty._

**Bella's POV**

"Come on." Rosalie said as she grabbed my hand and began pulling me down the hallway.

"We're not going to be late, I promise." I said as I pulled my hand out of hers.

"Bella, there's like nobody in the hallway cause the bells about to ring."

"Rose, I promise-" I was cut off by the sound of the bell and Rosalie groaned

"Man, I hate being late." She whined and sped up.

I jogged to catch up with her. "Sorry, Rosie. Next time Mike continues to talk to me, just pull me away."

Rosey rolled her eyes. "He would shoot me."

"He doesn't like me."

Rose scoffed. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She said as we entered Armstrong's classroom.

He gave us a disapproving glance and Rosalie apologized for being late for both of us. We quickly searched through the letters on his desk finding ours, and went to our seats. I opened my letter, somewhat anxious to see what _Anthony_ had to say. After reading it twice, the way I always did I took out my paper to write my reply.

_Anthony__  
__Conceited much? I think you're overestimating how awesome you truly are, pal. But sure, maybe if you continue to think I'm awesome, and I continue to think you're awesome, there just might be a friendship in our future. However, I'm glad you decided not to judge me off the fact that I don't care to drink. It's nice to know that you're more mature than shallow assholes who would immediately write me off because of it, but I'll keep you in mind in case if I ever want to get drunk. Thanks for the offer, I guess. Mac n Cheese is delicious, but if I could live off of orange chicken from Panda Express, that stuff is mind blowing. I get what you're saying about music, I feel the same way about a certain sport that I play. Sure people love it, but not there's no way that they have the same love for it that I do. I feel like I should tell you about my family. I have a sibling, and my parents are still happily married. I love them very much, we're all close and that's really important to me._  
_Iz_

_PS, there's no way that you could beat me at Call of Duty, no one can._

I sealed my envelope and wrote his name across the front. When the bell rang, I handed it to Armstrong and apologized for being late. He gave me a warm smile and a nod and then Rosalie and I left the classroom so we could get to our study hall on time.

Rose was talking about plans for this weekend, and even though I knew I should have been listening I was too focused on the boy who was leaned against his locker. Edward Cullen. My heart sped up slightly as we got closer. He was scanning the hallway obviously looking for someone and even though I knew he wasn't searching for me, I silently wished that he would have been. His eyes moved over and past me, but then snapped back. We locked eyes for a second and he gave me a small smile along with a head nod. I smiled back as we walked past, acting like it was no big deal.

"How does that sound?" Rosalie asked.

"Sounds good." I said as I wondered what I had just agreed to.

"Okay great. By the way, I totally saw you staring at Edward." She said and smirked over at me.

"I was not!" I exclaimed as my cheeks heated up.

Rosalie put her hands up in defeat. "Whatever you say, Bella."


	4. Chapter 4

Belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

**Edward's POV**

_Iz,__  
__Exactly! I'm so glad that you understand what I'm saying. Sure everyone loves music, but they just don't have the same type of love for it that I do. Can you believe that Armstrong is going to start giving us topics to write about, how freaking lame is that? Anyway, let's play the favorites games. I'll tell you a lot of my favorite things and then when you write back you tell me your favorites. Sound good? I hope so, cause you don't really have a choice. Let's see. Favorite movie is The Fifth Element, if you haven't seen it then you have not lived. Blue is my favorite color. Blink-182 is the greatest band ever, but my favorite song is actually Head on Collision by New Found Glory. As you know, Mac n Cheese is my favorite food, but my favorite fast food place is Taco Bell. My favorite tv show is The Office. That's all I have time for. I look forward to reading your favorites tomorrow.__  
__Anthony_

_PS, you better play, or I might have to beat you up._

I wrote Iz's name across the front of the envelope the way I do every day and handed it to Armstrong on my way out of the class. Emmett and I walked through the halls talking about his weird pen pal.

"I mean seriously, at first I thought she was just kidding about all the stuff she does, but she's not. She really does read to old people." He exclaimed.

I laughed at his hysterical had movements. "Sounds like she's a good person."

"It sounds like she's lame."

"That too."

We stopped at our lockers to exchange our books and to wait for Jasper and Alice to show up so the four of us could walk to P.E. together. I closed my locker after tossing my notebook in it and leaned against them as I waited. My eyes immediately spotted Bella and I felt a smile creep on my lips.

"Why don't you go talk to her instead of being a creep and just staring?"

I shook my head as I tore my eyes away from her and scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Don't even start with me bro; you were totally staring at Bella."

"Bella who?" I said with a smirk

"I'm gonna punch you."

"What are you guys talking about?" Jasper asked as him and Alice approached.

"Edward is still trying to deny that he stares at Bella." Emmett said with an eye roll.

Jasper scoffed. "Whatever dude, you're like obsessed with her."

"I am not."

"Bella Swan? asked with a smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, her." Emmett answered for me.

"You should go talk to her, she's really nice." Alice urged.

I rolled my eyes. "Let's go to P.E."

"Not until you go over there and talk to her."

"Jasper, control your woman."

"Actually, I'm gonna side with her on this one." He said and smirked.

"Whipped." I muttered.

Alice slapped my arm and pushed me off the locker and over in Bella's direction. I took a deep breath as I approached her and her group of friends. Bella's back was to me and just as I was about to tap her on the shoulder, Angela Weber locked eyes with me. She grabbed Bella's arm, and sent a glare my way.

"Come on Bella, let's get out of here." She said and began pulling her down the hallway.

I sighed and turned back to my friends. They all gave me sympathetic smiles and Jasper patted my shoulder. "Don't sweat dude, there's still four more passing periods, plus after school."

"Yeah, whatever."

**Bella's POV**

It didn't take long for me to become interested in Edward Cullen. Actually, all it took was us slamming into each other just a few days ago. Ever since then, I'm tried to bump into him again. I would walk past his locker on my way to class, hoping that he would stop me to talk but he never did. The most I've gotten from him since that day is a smile and head nods, no actually words.

"So, girls night on Friday?" Angela asked me and Rosalie as we closed our lockers.

"I'm in." Rose said with a shrug.

"Bella, how about you?"

"I can't. I have a tennis tournament on Saturday." I said and frowned.

"Aw, well maybe next time." She said.

"Let's get to class, I don't want to be late again." Rose said as she shot me a playful glare.

I rolled my eyes, exasperated. "How many times do I have to say sorry?" I whined.

She just laughed. "Just kidding, Bella."

"Let's just get to class." Angela said and started walking down the hall.

I stood still, still at my locker and looked the opposite way Angela was walking. Sure the way she was going was shorter, but if I went the other way I would walk by Edward's locker and maybe we would be able to talk briefly.

"Bella, are you coming?" Angela asked impatiently.

"I think I'm gonna go this way." I said and hook my thumb over my shoulder.

"Why, this way's faster."

"Uh, well I need to burn off the nachos I had for lunch." I lied.

She rolled her eyes and she and Rosalie turned around to walk with me. I smiled, feeling accomplished that I had gotten my way and began walking with them. We were talking about possibly moving the girls' night to Saturday so that I could go as we walked and I saw Edward at his locker. I walked by without glancing over at him, and a few steps later I bumped into Rose and dropped my notebook but kept walking, in hopes that Edward would pick it up.

"Bella!"

I smiled inwardly as I stopped walking and turned around. I saw Edward walking up slowly with my notebook in his hand. Angela scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Why is it that you always seem to be picking up my stuff?" I asked as I took my notebook back.

He shrugged with a smile on his lips. "I don't know, why do you always seem to drop your stuff when you're around me?"

I laughed as I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks.

"Come on Bella, we're going to be late." Angela said with a glare.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll see you later, Edward. Thanks for picking up my notebook."

He smiled warmly. "Anytime."

I ignored all of Angela's hateful comments as we continued to walk to class. Rosalie and I entered Armstrong's class right as the bell rang. I heard Rosalie exhale out of relief as we picked our letters up and went to our seats.

"What does Mr. Anthony have to say today?" Rosey asked with a smirk.

I smiled. "We'll see." I replied as I opened the envelope.

_Anthony,__  
__You know, at first I thought about not playing your game just because it would be funny. But after heavily debating it, I decided that it was only fair to tell you what you've told me. My favorite movie is Mean Girls because it's hilarious. Green is far better than blue, which is why it's my favorite. I have a tie between Green Day and Yellowcard for my favorite band, both are absolutely amazing. I find it impossible to say that one is better than the other. My favorite song though, happens to be Time After Time. But only the Quietdrive cover, the original isn't so great, in my opinion. My favorite fast food place is Taco Bell too, I always get a Chruchwrap Supreme, minus tomatoes because those are gross. And my favorite tv show is How I Met Your Mother, I watch it every Monday night. Well, that was fun.__  
Iz_

_PS, I'm not scared of you._


	5. Chapter 5

**Edward's POV**

"So Edward, you're coming to Alice's party, right?" Jasper asked as we all walked into school.

"Yeah, you're coming right?" Emmett asked.

"Hells yes!" I said and slapped them high fives.

"You should ask Bella." Alice said with a smile.

I rolled my eyes. "And why would I do that?" I asked as I attempted to walk in front of them.

"Because you love her." The three of them said together.

I scoffed. "Please, the only woman I love is Emmett's mom."

Emmett smacked the back of my head, making my bandana fall off as all of us laughed and we continued our way to our lockers, passing Bella and her friends along the way. I quickly tied my bandana back, feeling exposed without it on my head as Alice elbowed me in the side and let her eyes dart from me to Bella. I rolled my eyes at her and continued on.

"Fine Cullen, since you're going to be a pussy. I'll invite her." Alice said.

"You wouldn't dare."

Alice smiled and turned around to approach Bella. I sucked in a breath but acted like it was no big deal since Jasper and Emmett were watching me intently. I watched as Alice talked to Bella, ignoring the hateful looks she was getting from Angela and Mike. Bella smiled and Alice turned around walking back to us. The bell rang as she grabbed her books from Jasper and started walking away. I watched Bella walk to opposite way down the hallway and then chased after Alice.

"What did she say?" I asked eagerly.

"She'll be there." She said with a shrug and smiled.

I hugged Alice tightly. "Thank you!" I yelled and took off running to Armstrong's class.

I slid into my desk with Iz's letter in my hand and a smile on my face. Emmett smirked over at me, placing his letter on his desk.

"I'm guessing Bella will be there?"

"Yeah, Alice's a goddess." I said as I tore the letter open.

Emmett pumped his fist in the air. "Now you have to admit it, you love her!"

I scoffed again, not daring to give him the satisfaction. "No way."

Emmett punched my arm, and I slapped his hand away and then started reading my letter.

"Your topic of the day is on the board." Armstrong said as he looked out over the class.

Emmett and I looked at each other out of the corner of our eyes and shook our heads, outraged that we now had topics. Emmett was mad that he now couldn't freak out his pen pal, I was mad because Iz and I had good conversations on our own. I sighed anyway and read the board before I started writing.

Tell your pen pal a secret.

_Iz,__  
__Assuming that your topic is going to be the same as mine, isn't this stupid? Isn't sharing secrets what sixth grade girls do at a slumber party? Seriously though, I think we're doing just fine talking on our own. Which is awesome, since I was convinced that this whole project was going to blow. I guess I'll stop whining, I guess. Or maybe not, cause you have to read whatever I write, haha. Hmm, as for my secret. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be serious or not, I guess it depends on the way you interpret it, and since I try to not be serious as often as possible I'm going to not take this seriously. So the secret that I pick to share with you is that I'm scared of clowns. They're terrifying, laugh all you want but it's true. Oh well, I guess I'll never watch IT.__  
__Peace._

_PS, I'm really wondering what your secret is, scared of bugs perhaps?_

The bell rang as I was finishing up my letter. I told Emmett to go ahead to P.E. without me and that I would meet up with him as I folded my letter and stuffed it into the envelope. I wrote Iz's name across the front of it hurriedly and gave it to Armstrong, running out of the class.

I ran through the halls in a hurry, determined to get out of the main building before the bell rang. If Mrs. Andrew's caught me being late again she would give me detention, and if that happened my parents would be pissed.

I ran around the corner, put a couple feet from the door and slammed into someone, knocking both of us to the ground. I cursed loudly but smiled when I saw Bella on the ground next to me.

**Bella's POV**

"We've got to stop meeting this way." I said as Edward and I both stood up.

He laughed lightly and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, one of these days one of us is going to get hurt."

Edward handed me the notebook that was at his feet and I blushed lightly.

"So you're going to Alice's party?" he asked.

"Yeah, it sounds like fun. Are you going to be there?"

"For sure, she's dating one of my best friends."

"Great, I guess I'll see you there." She said with a smile.

"Well I certainly look forward to it."

The bell rang and Edward cursed as he looked up and down the hallway.

"I'd love to skip class and chat with you, but I have to get out of here before Mrs. Andrew's sniffs me out and gives me a detention."

"Then you better get going."

He smiled and turned around, running to make it out the door. When I looked down I saw his bandana laying on the ground. I picked it up and debated whether to tell him or not. Deciding that it would be creepy if I didn't I called out his name. Edward turned around, doing his best to run backwards as he looked at me.

"You dropped your bandana." I said holding it up for him to see.

He smiled widely and shrugged. "Just keep it." he said and turned around, running out of the building.

I smiled was plastered on my face for the next couple of hours. I was in a great mood, not only from talking to Edward, but from him allowing me to keep his bandana. I shoved it in my back pocket, letting the top of it poke out.

"What's this?" Angela asked as she pulled it out of my pocket on our walk to sixth period.

"Oh, I bumped into Edward Cullen earlier; he dropped it and told me I could keep it."

She rolled her eyes and handed it back. "How sweet of him."

Rosalie and I locked eyes, both rolling them and remaining quiet.

"Why do you even speak to him?" she asked with a look of disgust on her face.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Um, because he's Edward's Cullen." She said as she spat his name.

"Yeah, so what?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "He's not like us, and it doesn't look good on us that you talk to him."

I scoffed, giving Angela a dirty look and quickened my pace to get away from her. I snatched my letter off Armstrong's desk and sat down in a huff, tearing my letter open and beginning to read.

"I told Angela she's an idiot." Rosaliey said when she sat down next to me.

I smiled at her. "Thanks."

I scrunched my face up when I saw the pen pal topic of the day, but grinned when I saw that Anthony thought that it was just as ridiculous as I do.

_Anthony,__  
__I must say, it really does surprise me how much we think alike. I too think that topics is a stupid idea, you're right we seem to be doing just fine on our own! By the way, ever heard of skimming? Cause that's totally what I did through all of your whining, and it just so happens that I am not scared of bugs, or clowns. Also like you, I try not to take anything I don't have to seriously. So since your secret was somewhat silly, mine will be too. I eat ice cream directly out of the carton. Some call it gross, but why dirty a bowl when I'm the only one in my house that eats it? Oh well, just a heads up in case you ever end up at my house to have some ice cream. __  
Iz._

_PS, you're really not missing anything. IT's not that great of a movie._

* * *

**Pics of characters and such will be on my profile soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Edward's POV**

I walked through the crowded halls alone this morning. I usually road to school with Emmett, but he was sick so I had to go by myself. I thought about skipping, just for the hell of it. But then I remembered Bella and decided that school was worth going to just for the small chance of getting to talk to her.

The warning bell rang, and I made my way to Armstrong's class. I tore the envelope open, wanting to read Iz's response. My eyes flew over her words, taking them all in as a grin covered my lips. I had really began to love this pen pal project. Iz was really cool, and I actually enjoyed talking to her.

Share a childhood memory.

I rolled my eyes at the topic of the day, somewhat annoyed. These topics were so broad, but so select at the same time. It made me miss the days when we could write whatever we wanted. I turned to my left, expecting to see Emmett but only greeted by an empty seat. Without Emmett to distract me, I pulled out a sheet of paper and started writing.

_Iz,__  
__For my childhood memory, I'm going to share one with you that my entire family finds funny, even though I do not. Well actually, pretty much everyone's who's heard the story thinks it's funny, you probably will too. But keep in mind that this has scarred me. It was a warm summer day in June, I believe. My mom, dad, brother, and grandparents decided to go finishing and have a barbeque at the park. There were geese all around, so my grandma handed my brother and I a couple pieces of bread to feed them. Everyone was going fine until I ran out of bread. This one goose got pissed and bit me, so I kicked it and it started chasing me all over the park. I finally had to hide in a port-o-potty for like twenty minutes until it went away. Go ahead and laugh all you want, but I'm telling you beware of geese. They bite hard.__  
_Anthony

_PS, I'm still afraid of geese._

I shook my head as I put my letter in the envelope, unsure of why I picked that memory to share with her. There were so many possibilities, and I picked the one that made me look like a sissy douche bag. I wrote Iz's name across the front and handed it to Armstrong on the way out.

"Dude, Bella is totally checking you out." Jasper said as he approached.

I smirked. "Who wouldn't?"

"Are you still pretending that you don't love her?" Alice asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"There's no pretending involved."

"Oh, so you'd be alright if I told her that my party for Saturday is canceled?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter if she's there or not, since you don't love her."

I sighed heavily and looked over at Jasper for help. He was trying not to smile, but failing miserably. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Alice would was grinning, knowing that she had won.

"I'll see you guys in P.E." I said and walked towards Bella since her friends had left.

She was exchanging the books she had in her hands for the books in her locker as she tried to keep her purse up on her shoulder and hold her tennis racket and lunch box at the same time. Just as her Trig book was about to fall out, I grabbed it for her and she sighed in relief.

"My savior." She said as she put the other books, racket, and lunchbox in her locker.

I smiled down at her. "Which way are you headed?"

"That way." she said and pointed down the same hallway that I was going.

"Mind some company?"

"Not if it's yours." She said and closed her locker.

I laughed as she started down the hallway. At first there was an awkward silence because I didn't know what to say. Usually I had no problem talking to girls, but when it came to Bella it seems like I forget how to breathe.

Soon we were laughing and joking, like we had been best friends for years. She smiled as I pushed her arm lightly. She stopped walking when we reached Mr. Fredrick's room and a scowl set on her face.

"Time for trig."

I gave her a light smile as I rested her trig book in her hands. She thanked me for carrying it for her and then we fell back into an awkward silence. Is it too soon to hug her? Definitely.

"So, uh. I'll see you later." I said as I scratched the back of my neck.

"Yeah, see ya."

**Bella's POV**

"Uh oh, I know that smile. You talked to Edward." Rose said as I sat down next to her in sixth period English.

"Maybe." I said with a sly smile as I opened Anthony's letter.

Rosalie had started talking about how she knew that I had because I couldn't stop smiling, but I was too busy reading Anthony's letter to answer her. Eventually she became quiet, and I noticed that she was working on her reply. Feeling that I should do the same, I pulled out a black sheet of paper and began writing. That is, after I finished laughing at his letter.

_Anthony,__  
__I'm sure you saw this coming, but that was the funniest thing I have ever read. I can definitely see why you're still scared of them though, I'm sure they're vicious animals. Apparently they're worse when they're hungry. I think you'll like my childhood memory cause it definitely shows how freaking cool I am. It was my sixth birthday party, and there was this boy there that I had never liked. We were standing by my pool cause my parents wanted to get a picture of us, because they had always liked him. Anyway, he went to kiss me and I definitely pushed him in the pool. Not nearly as cool as your memory, I realized. But that's the best I could do.__  
Iz._

_PS, the picture definitely ended up me shoving him into the pool. It's priceless._

After class Rosalie and I walked through the halls, trying to get to study hall on time. We talked about the upcoming weekend and everything that we had planned, but I became uninterested when I saw Edward walking my way.

"I'll meet up with you in study hall, there's something I have to do." I said as I turned to Tiffy.

She smirked. "Have fun talking to Cullen."

"Hey." Edward said with a smile as I approached him.

"Hey, I meant to give this back to your earlier." I said as I pulled his bandana out of my purse and handed it to him.

He rolled his eyes. "Bella, I said you could keep it."

"Yeah, but I thought that you only said that because if you came back for it, you would have been late to class."

He laughed lightly. "No I said it because I meant it. I have a million of them, as you can tell." He said as he pointed to the navy blue one that was tied around his head.

"Oh, well now I feel a little lame." I said as my cheeks heated up.

Edward laughed again, taking the bandana out of my hand. "Hold up your arm."

I did as told and watched his tie is around my wrist.

I cocked my head to the side, letting a playful smile take over my lips.

"Isn't this supposed to go around my head?"

"You're much too cool to wear it like everyone else."

"Or maybe just too lame?" I joked.

Edward pulled his bandana off his head and tied it around his wrist the same way that he had just done to mine and smiled widely over at me.

"No, definitely too cool."

* * *

**Pics are on profile and actually work this time.**

**~SoWrongItsRegan**


	7. Chapter 7

**Edward's POV**

Fears.

I grumbled as I glared at the topic of the day. I pulled out my piece of paper since Emmett was still sick, and I had no distractions. A scoff came out from the back of my throat. It was the sound of disgust, because I didn't want to talk about my fears. I sighed, knowing that I had to, and thanked God that I had a cool pen pal who would, hopefully, not laugh at me.

_Iz,__  
__I gotta be honest with you, I don't even think my mom knows my fears. Outside of the geese, of course. Like my real fears, the legit ones. I don't think anyone does, except for maybe a few friends. I might have let some slip out one drunken night. But I guess I can tell you, cause I mean really. Who are you gonna tell? Well, you could tell people, but it really wouldn't matter cause you don't know who I am. Now that I think about it, this is kind of cool. It's kind of a relief that I can tell someone something like this and it not be a big deal. So here it goes. My fear is failure. I have plans for after high school, none that involve going to colleges. My plans are much bigger than that, but I am scared shitless that it won't work out. I don't wanna end up some thirty year old guy who works a desk job that he hates. That's why I'm chasing my dreams, and all I have to say is that I hope they work out.__  
Anthony._

_PS, I don't think I've said this yet, but thanks for being so cool._

With twenty minutes left of class, I doodled in the margins of my paper, drawing cartoons and music notes since I had already told Iz how much I love music. When the bell finally rang, I stuffed my letter in the envelope, wrote Iz's name across the front, and handed it to Armstrong.

I stood at my locker waiting for Alice and Jasper, the way I did every day. My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I pulled it out seeing I had a text from Emmett that asked if I could drop his homework off. I told him I would, even though I don't even know why he was asking. It's not like he was actually going to do it.

Bella was standing at her locker with Rosalie, Angela, Mike, and a few people I didn't know, or care to know. I sighed, wishing that she was by herself so I could talk to her. Bella was friends with the type of people who looked down on people like me.

She caught my gaze, and smiled. I returned it as I watched all three of her friends follow her eyes, to me. Angela and Mike glared, and Rosalie smiled briefly before turning back to Bella. I saw Bella roll her eyes at something Angela said and walk towards me.

"Were you checking me out?" she asked playfully.

"You caught me." I said as I noticed her friends were staring at us.

Bella looked over her shoulder at them, rolled her eyes, and then focused her attention back on me. "Don't worry about them, they're just douches. Well not Rose, she's cool. The other two are douches."

"Then why do you hang out with them?"

"Who says I do?" she said with a smirk and upped her eyebrows.

"Aren't you friends with them?" I asked, becoming confused.

"Edward, there is such a thing as a one sided friendship."

A smile took over my lips as Bella smiled at me.

"How about I walk you to trig again?" I asked.

"I'd like that."

**Bella's POV**

I placed my hand over my mouth as I yawned widely. I rubbed my sleepy eyes as I started reading Anthony's letter again. My eyelids were drooping from the lack of sleep that was suddenly catching up with me. Between tennis, school, studying, and all the family drama that had been taking place I barely had time to sleep.

I sighed when I saw the topic was fears. Somehow this felt fitting, since mine was coming true. I was thankful that Anthony had taken this topic seriously, because that meant that I could too. I shot Rose a smile, which she returned and took out a piece of paper.

_Anthony,__  
__I guess I should start by saying that I really hope that the dream you're chasing comes true. I understand completely what you mean about not wanting to live a life you hate. I get that, honestly. As for me, well my fear is currently coming true. I'm sure I've told you how important my family is to me. My biggest fear is my family falling apart. I haven't told anyone yet, cause I know they'll make a huge deal out of it. I don't need people feeling sorry for me, all I need is someone to talk to. It just sucks, you know? I don't know if your parents are still married of divorce, I hope they're still married. Because I would never want someone to have to do through what I am. But it's whatever, I guess. There's nothing I can do about it. So now that this is happening, I guess I'm officially fearless.__  
Iz._

_PS, I'm glad that you're cool too and I loved the doodles._

"Do you wanna come over tonight to study for chemistry?" Rosalie asked me when the bell rang.

"Yeah, forsure. I need to study so bad."

"Okay, Mike and Angela are coming over."

I scrunched my face up and Rosalie laughed.

"Just come over after practice." She said.

"I will." I replied and walked into the girls locker room.

Practice seemed ten times harder then it usually did. Maybe it was because I was so tired that I really didn't care, or maybe it was because it was a running day. Either way, five o'clock didn't come fast enough. After practice was over, I went back to the locker room to change back to my regular clothes and made my way outside.

I sat on a bench, trying to get everything in my tennis bag, without dropping my phone. I crammed my dirty practice clothes, racket, and extra tennis balls in there, along with my tennis shoes. I then sat down on the bench, and quickly texted Tiffy telling her that I would be over soon.

"You look exhausted."

My head snapped up and I saw Edward walking towards me.

"Are you nicely telling me that I look like shit?" I asked as I brushed my bangs out of my face.

"Never." He said and sat down beside me. "Tough practice?" he asked.

I nodded, and yawned again.

"Are you waiting for a ride?"

"No, just trying to get enough energy to walk to my car." I said as I pointed to my red focus.

Edward laughed lightly and stood up. He picked up my tennis bag, and slung it over his shoulder, wobbling slightly since it was so heavy. "C'mon." he said.

I groaned as I stood up, only to have Edward scoop me up off my feet. He smirked down at me, as he carried me bridal style through the parking laugh. I laughed loudly, telling him that he could put me down, but he refused until we were at my car. I unlocked my car, and Edward threw my bag in the backseat.

"Thank you." I said with a smile

He shrugged. "Not a problem."

An awkward silence fell over us and Edward scratched the back of his neck, as I looked down at my shoes, allowing my bangs to fall into my face.

"So I guess I'll see you at Alice's on Saturday."

"Yeah, definitely."

"I'll see you later Bella."

"Bye Edward."


	8. Chapter 8

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

The weekend came and went, as did Alice's party and I was disappointed because Bella wasn't there. She had been telling me all week that she would be, but she never showed. I even stayed sober just to make sure that I wouldn't miss her, or make a fool out of myself if she did show up. The things I go through just to try to impress a girl.

"I can honestly say that I am not glad to be back." Emmett said as we stepped inside Forks High.

I laughed and nodded my head. "Well it's good to have you back, first hour has been hell without you. I mean, I've actually done those stupid worksheets just because you weren't there to flick paper footballs with me."

Emmett smiled as he opened his locker and put all of his books inside. "Sorry dude, never fear though, I'm back to save you from Armstrong's stupid worksheets."

We fists bumped as Jasper and Alice walked up.

"There's my best friends." Jasper said and high fived us both before wrapping an arm securely around Alice's waist.

Emmett asked how Alice's party went and I saw Alice and Jasper both shift uncomfortably before saying it was good. I tuned them out, trying to forget that I wasted my Saturday evening waiting on Bella as I let my eyes scan the hallways. I saw Rosalie but for the first time ever, Bella wasn't at her side.

The bell rang, and I dismissed the thought as Emmett and I walked to Armstrong's class. We picked our letters up and went to our seats, slouching down as we opened the envelopes.

"Your topic of the day is your goals in life, have fun." Armstrong said and then sat down at his desk.

"Dude, ten points if you hit Shelby Foster in the back, twenty if you hit her head." Emmett said as he tossed a paper football on my desk.

I smiled as I held the tip of it with my index finger. I lined it up perfectly and flicked it, making it fly to the front of the room, just barely missing Shelby's head. She whirled around and gave me a mean glare before facing the front again. Emmett and I laughed until Armstrong cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, I think it's time for you to work on your letters." He said, and did his best to give us a stern look.

Emmett and I stifled our laughter and nodded in agreement, then pulled out a piece of paper and began writing.

_Iz,__  
__Besides getting in the Genis Book of World Records for the longest burp, I really don't have many goals in life. I have one major one, and that's to be famous. A musician would be my first pick, obviously. But I could always settle for a movie star, or perhaps an athlete, although I'm not exactly good at any sports. Or maybe I'll invent something. Anyway, that's my main goal. Other than that I guess I don't really have any. Sure one day, I'd love to get married and possibly have some kids. I guess those would be considered goals too, maybe. I see them more as expectations made by my mother that must be fulfilled, but by the time that I get old enough to actually think about stuff like that I may view it differently. __  
__Peace, __  
__Anthony._

_PS, If I was to invent something, I think it would be a robot that would clean my house for me._

After first period I told Emmett that I would meet up with him in P.E. I walked towards my locker, hoping to find Bella so I could walk her to Trig like I had most of last week. I saw Rosalie again, without Bella and I called her name.

"Hey, have you seen Bella today?" I asked as I approached her.

She shook her head. "She's not coming in until after lunch today because she has a doctor's appointment."

"Oh, okay. Thanks." I said.

Rosalie nodded and walked off. I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair. The clock in the hall notified me that I only had a minute to get over to the gym. I jogged through the hallways, and quickened my pace when I saw Mrs. Andrew's standing by the doors that led to the gym.

She smiled at me and shook her head as the bell rang and I approached her. I stopped and let my head fall back, sighing as she wrote me up.

"Detention." She said and handed me the slip of paper.

"Awesome."

**Bella's POV**

I told Rosalie that I wasn't coming to school until after lunch because of a doctor's appointment. But really, I went with my parents, and Annie to finalize the divorce. Annie's only six, so she had no idea what was going on, but I knew and I couldn't help but cry. My parents assured me that things wouldn't change too drastically, but I didn't believe them.

Another reason I stayed away from school was because of what happened on Saturday. It was around eight, and I was getting ready for Alice's party. I had told Rose how excited I was about it all week, and I was stoked that the night was finally here. But right as I was about to leave, Mike, Rose, and Angela barged through my bedroom door, yelling that it was time for an intervention.

Rosalie apologized a million times, saying that she tried to stop them. I wasn't mad at her, because I knew that she was telling the truth. Mike and Angela said that I needed to stop talking to Edward because he's 'beneath us' and would only break my heart. I told them to go fuck themselves and stormed out of my house. Rose followed and the two of us went back to her house and had a sleepover, since I wasn't exactly in a partying mood anymore.

I handed Armstrong my late slip when I entered the classroom. He smiled and handed me the stack of letters, allowing me to pick mine out and then take my seat. Rose smiled over at me when I sat down, and I smiled back.

"How was the doctor's appointment?" she asked softly, since we were supposed to be writing.

"It was fine." I said shortly.

I felt terrible for lying to Rose; after all she is my best friend. But I just didn't want anyone to know about my parents yet, not even her. It was humiliating, to me and I knew that everyone would make a big deal out of it. Rose would understand when I told her, I knew she would.

I sighed when I saw that the topic was future goals, still in a pretty crappy mood from this weekend and this morning. But after reading Anthony's letter, my mood lifted a little.

_Anthony,__  
__If you're goal is to become famous, then you should definitely pursue that goal with music. Since you love it so much, it'll be easy for you to put your whole heart into it. And everyone knows that the more heart you put into something, the better you become, thus possibly resulting in a contract for you. As for me, my goal is pretty selfless. I want to be able to help people, either by being a nurse or a counselor, I haven't decided which yet. But for me, I love the feeling I get when I help someone. Like you, I see marriage and kids more as an expectation put on my not only from my mother, but also by society. But who follows the norm these days? Honestly, I never want to get married, or have kids. But like you said, maybe I'll feel differently when I get older.__  
__Iz._

_PS, if you do invent that robot, I'd totally buy one._

The rest of the day went by with a blur. I did my best to ignore Angela and Mike. It was easy to ignore Angela, because she was mad at me too, but Mike kept trying to apologize. I knew he didn't mean it, he just didn't want me to be mad at him. But I blew him off, and continued on.

Practice wasn't too bad. It was cloudy outside, which was nice because that means that I didn't sweat as much as I usually do. It was still exhausting, to me at least but that was probably just because I was still so low on sleep.

"Bella, there you are." Edward said as he sat down beside me on the bench.

"Hey." I said, and giving him a warm smile.

"I've been looking all over for you, I was beginning to think that you were avoiding me." he said with a smirk.

I laughed light. "Never!"

"Didn't see you at Alice's."

I sighed and dropped my head. "I know. My friends suck, that's really all I have to say. They kind of went crazy and tried to have an intervention, so I just went to Rosalie's. I would have been a downer if I would have showed up."

Edward nodded, saying that he understood and smiled anyway. "Well that just means that you'll have to come to the next one."

I smiled. "Definitely. What are you doing at school so late, anyway? Stalking me?" I asked as I upped my eyebrows.

He scoffed. "You wish." He said playfully. "I had detention."

"Late to class again?"

He nodded. "Hey, do you want a ride home?" he asked.

I sighed as I saw my mom's silver BMW pull into the school parking lot and stood up, throwing my tennis bag over my shoulder. "I would, but my mom's here." I said giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Maybe some other time."

"Yeah, definitely."

* * *

**Pics are on profile. Outfits and such should be uploaded in a little while.**

**~SoWrongItsRegan  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

I sighed in relief when I saw that we had a free day for writing. I was so sick of having to write about specific things, I wanted to tell Iz whatever I wanted, not what I had to. I wanted to talk to her about music, and my friends. Important stuff like that, not my freaking life goals.

I looked over at Emmett who had just put six spit wads in his straw. He looked over at me with a wicked smirk, and then pointed at Rachel Arms. When we were in sixth grade Rachel made fun of Emmett's voice when we were going through puberty, he had hated her ever since.

He took a deep breath, and blew into the straw, causing all the spit wads to fly out and hit her on random places on her back. We quickly looked down at our notebooks when she turned around to glare at us, and then laughed when we saw that two of the spit wads had stuck to her shirt.

Emmett and I high fived and Armstrong cleared his throat. He gave us a disapproving look, meaning that he had seen what we were doing. He didn't say anything though, or give us detention like most teachers would have. He just gave us one of those teacher looks, and Emmett and I started writing our letters.

_Iz,  
A free day to write, and on a Friday. That must mean that today is going to be epic. Let's see, what do I want to talk to you about today. How about my friends? They're a pretty huge part of my life. First there's my best friend. We'll call him Emilio, cause I don't want you to stalk them. Anyway, he's pretty wild and acts like a five year old, but he's really awesome. Sometimes he annoys the hell out of me, but at the end of the day, I still consider him my brother. Then there's Jason. He's the smart one of the group, and not just school wise. He's the one I always go to when I have a problem, cause he always knows the answer. And finally there's Marcus. He's pretty quiet, especially compared to the rest of us. But he's wicked cool, and would take anyone out who fucks with us. Well, those are my best friends.  
Peace,  
Anthony._

_PS, I do have more than just three friends, but those are the most important ones._

"Dude, it's pizza day in the caf." Emmett said excitedly as we walked to the lunch room.

We fist bumped. "This is like, the best Friday ever." I said.

I saw Bella walk by to go sit with her friends. My eyes followed her, but she never noticed. I felt my day deflate just a little bit, but then I decided that I would just talk to her later.

Emmett and I went through the lunch line and then joined the rest of our friends at our usual table, which was, unfortunately, nowhere near Bella's table. I laughed as Emmett stuck french fries out of his mouth, making Walrus noises until Jasper spit his soda out everywhere.

"So are you gonna ask Bella to hangout tonight?" Alice asked me.

I shrugged. "I wasn't going to."

"I think you should." Emmett commented.

I rolled my eyes. "You and everyone else at this table."

"So true." Jasper said as he nodded in agreement.

"Bella's really cool, Edward. And I definitely think that she could be into you." Alice said as she sent me a reassuring smile.

"Which means, that she would let you into her." Emmett said and held his hand up for a high five.

I laughed lightly, shaking my head at my best friend and high fived him, knowing that he wouldn't put his hand down until somebody did.

The bell rang, and we all threw our trash away. As we walked through the halls, I saw Bella at her locker. I looked over at Emmett, and he patted my shoulder, leading Alice and Jasper away from me. I took a deep breath and started giving myself a mental pep talk as I walked over there.

_You can do this, _Edward_. She's just a girl._

As I got closer, I saw Mike approach Bella. He smiled down at her, and it was clear to see that he was practically in love with her. He leaned against her locker, pulling her books out of her hands as he talked. I shook my head, deciding that I would just walk pass and ask her later, in hopes of hearing what they're talking about.

"So do you have any plans for tonight?" he asked, and I bent down to tie my shoe, giving me more time to listen.

"Uh." Bella hesitated. "Not really."

"How about we hangout?"

"Um, yeah. Sure, I guess. I can ask Rose is she wants to too."

"No, Bella. I meant just you and me." he said as he chuckled lightly.

"Oh, yeah cool."

I got up and walked past them, not wanting to hear any more. I should have walked up to her and just asked her, even if Mike was talking to her. But it was too late now.

_Way to go, dumbass._

**Bella's POV**

"Rosalie, please!" I begged as I jutted my bottom lip out. "You have to come with me, what if he attacks me or something?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes and frowned. "I would Bella, you know I would, but I have to go that that stupid dinner with my parents."

I scrunched my face up, knowing that she couldn't get out of that. "Just promise you'll text me constantly."

"Duh!" she said, as we both smiled.

A couple minutes passed and Rosalie began writing her letter. I read through Anthony's a few times, and then twirled it around on my desk. A sigh escaped my lips and I looked back over at Rosalie who was writing intently.

"Rosalie." I whispered.

She rolled her eyes at me and smiled lightly. "Write your freaking letter, Bella."

I laughed and pulled out my paper, then saluted her, only to have her smack my arm.

_Anthony,  
Even though you talked to me about your friends, I'm not going to talk about mine. I hope you don't mind, but I'm actually going to talk about my family. Just because you're still the only one who knows, and I really just need to get it off my chest. Well, my parent's divorce is final, it has been for about a week, and I absolutely hate it. I hate that I now have two houses, and that sometimes my sister stays with a different parent then I do. I just want them to get back together, and all live under one roof. Is that selfish? Probably, but I just hate that they've fallen apart. They said that things wouldn't change too drastically, but they already are. They don't talk, and avoid each other at all costs. They used to always come to my matches, both of them and cheer me on together. But not anymore. I'm thinking about telling my best friend soon. I truly feel terrible for not telling her.  
Thanks for letting me vent to you.  
Iz._

_PS, I'm torn between believing whether or not you really have more than three friends. I'm gonna go with you don't. =p_

My doorbell rang and I slowly walked down my stairs, not really wanting to answer my door at all. I did anyway, and Mike stood there smiling at me with Drilbit Taylor in his hands. I let him inside, and he kicked his shoes off before following me into the living room.

"Where is everyone?" he asked as I put the DVD in.

"Annie had a ballet recital." I said as I plopped down next to him on the couch.

"Oh, why didn't you go?"

I shrugged, and skipped the previews. I clicked play and Mike fell silent. An awkward silence filled the room and I picked at my nails, attempting not to notice. Mike kept stealing glances at me from the corner of his eye, and I hoped that he wouldn't be lame enough to try to put the moves on me while watching a movie. My prayers of that were quickly destroyed when he scooted over to me. I looked at him, and he smiled as our eyes locked. He leaned in, making my breathing go shallow. I attempted to pull away, but Mike's hand went to the back of my head as he guided my lips to his. After a few seconds I pulled away, seeing Mike's eyes still closed.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked softly.

He sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "I like you Bella, I have for awhile."

I looked down at my lap, as he waited for my reply. "Mike look, you're great and one of my best friends. But that's it. I just see you as a friend."

"Maybe we can just try." He asked as he scooted closer.

I got up and shook my head. "I can't pretend to like you, and I can't make myself have feelings for you. I'm sorry."

Mike's jaw tightened and he got up, and slid his shoes back on. He looked at me with an expression of hurt and annoyance as his eyes bored into mine. I looked away, feeling uncomfortable under his harsh glare and wrapped my arms around myself.

"I'm sorry too, Bella. Because I really think we would be great together."


	10. Chapter 10

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"One this I wish I was better at." Emmett said and tapped his chin in deep thought for a minute, before his face lit up. "Orgies." He said with a smile as he nodded.

I laughed loudly, getting glares sent my way. "Dude, you've never had an orgy in your life."

"Yeah, but my pen pal doesn't know that."

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my black paper. "That's very true."

Emmett smiled wickedly before picking up his pencil and beginning to write. I shook my head, feeling sorry for his pen pal and looked around the room, hoping to find a distraction. I blew my bangs out of my eyes as I thought about what I wished I was better at. Bella suddenly popped in my head, and I smiled knowing exactly what I wish I was better at.

_Iz,  
One thing I wish I was better at is understand girls. You guys are so hard to get. One minute you're all flirty, and the next you're hanging out with some other guy. Seriously, mixed signals much? How am I supposed to know if she likes me or not? What if she likes this other guy? I hate that I can't figure this out, and I feel like an idiot. What if I'm being played? I mean really, doesn't it sound like I am? One minute she's telling me how she can't wait to hang out with me, and the next she's hanging out with some douche. Am I overreacting? I feel like I am, but I just don't know. Which is why I wish I was better at understanding girls, so I would know if I'm wasting my time or not.  
Whatever.  
Anthony._

_PS, sorry that I sound like a whiny little bitch._

Emmett and I stopped at my locker, waiting on Alice and Jasper to show up. I saw Bella standing at her locker, a little ways down the hall and my stupid heart skipped a beat. She looked beautiful, as always. Her tight jeans fit her perfectly. She had her long blonde hair down, and curled inwards. I sucked in a breath and tore my eyes away from her, afraid that she would catch me staring.

"Hey volleyball team." Alice said with a smile as her and Jasper walked up.

"Hey, fellow teammates." Emmett replied with a grin.

"Ready to get to P.E.?" Jasper asked.

"Actually, it'll just be Emmett and Alice today." I said as I Alicete chopped Jasper and Alice's hands, making them separate. "I need to talk to Jasper."

"You're leaving me with Emmett?" she whined.

"Afraid so." I said with a shrug.

She sighed as Emmett pouted. "Fine." She said and kissed Jasper's lips quickly before I pulled him away.

Once outside, Jasper and I walked over to the far side of the lunch room and sat down with our backs against the wall. This was our official skipping class place, because nobody ever looked back here. Jasper looked over at me, and I let my head fall back until it came in contact with the wall and sighed.

"What do I do about Bella?" I asked as I looked forward.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean do I ask her out, or what?"

"Well, do you like her?"

I nodded and I saw Jasper smile. "Then yeah, ask her." he said.

I sighed. "I think she likes that Mike kid."

"And since when have you ever let another guy get in your way?"

**Bella's POV**

I read Anthony's letter and awed out loud getting a look from Rosalie that asked what the letter said. I handed it over to her and she reacted the same way after passing it back.

"That boy is entirely too sweet to have girl troubles." She said.

"He really is." I said, nodding in agreement. "Do you think I should offer advice?"

"Definitely, he sounds like he could use some. Plus you give good advice."

_Anthony,  
I definitely don't think you should give up on this girl. What if the guy she was hanging out with is truly only a friend, he might even be gay, or it might have been a pity hang out. I just recently did that to a guy who's been asking me to hang out practically every day. We hung out, but I don't like him, or am interested in him at all. You should ask her out, or just to hang out. Something. You may be surprised by what happens. But that's just my advice. Anyway, one thing I wish I was better at is biology. I hate that class so much, because it's just so boring that I can't pay attention. Oh well, we all have our faults. I hope everything works out with your girl!  
Iz._

_PS, I don't mind you sounding like a whiny little bitch, but I do hope that I helped._

"Hey Bella, since you don't have practice today how about you meet us at the Peoples Pizza down the street for a chemistry study session?" Rosalie asked as we walked out of study hall.

I shrugged. "Yeah that sounds good, I'm still having some problems with that stupid class."

"Alright, cool. See you there." She said and walked away, leaving me at my locker.

I pulled out my backpack out of my locker, throwing my chemistry book, notebook, folder, and lunchbox into it, and then zipped it up and threw it over my shoulder. When I went to walk, I walked right into Edward's chest, making him laugh lightly.

"Well hello to you too." he said with that infamous smirk plastered on his lips.

I blushed lightly, and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Hey, Edward."

Edward grinned and the two of us slowly started walking through the halls, and towards the parking lot. "So, have any plans after practice tonight?" he asked.

"Actually I don't have practice today. But I'm going down to Peoples Pizza for a chem study session." I said as I scrunched my face up a little.

Edward laughed lightly as we stopped at my car. "Well, have fun with that. I'll see you later." He said.

"See ya," I said, giving him a final smile before getting into my car and starting it. Blink-182 filled my ears immediately as I backed out of my parking spot and headed over to Peoples Pizza. I found Rosalie, Mike, and Angela already at the corner table with their books out.

"Hey guys." I said as I scooted in next to Rosalie.

I got a mumbles of heys in response as they looked at our homework. I watched as Rosalie looked from hers, to Mike's, to Angela's, and then back at her paper.

"What'd you get for number three?" Angela asked all of us as she ran her hand through her long brown hair.

"6.83" Rosalie said.

She looked over at Mike and I and we both shrugged. "I'm not there yet." I said.

"Yeah, me either."

The bell on the door rang as four boys walked in as they laughed. It only took me about two seconds to notice that one of them was Edward. The other two were Emmett and Jasper, and the last one I didn't know. My heart sped up as I saw him look over and give me a head nod. I smiled and then turned back to my book.

Every so often I would steal a glance at Edward, wondering if he was here because I was. It was wishful thinking on my part, but I couldn't stop it. Rosalie elbowed me in the side, bringing me back to reality as I looked over at her.

"Our pizza is ready, will you go get it?"

"Sure." I said as I took the ticket out of her hands and walked up to the counter.

Within thirty seconds Edward was at my side with a five dollar bill in his hands. I looked over at him and smiled as I watched him ask the kid behind the counter for a medium soda. He handed the five to him and took his change back, then turned to me with a grin.

"Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, sure. Stalker." I said with a smirk.

Edward laughed lightly and shrugged. "I'm not even going to try to deny it because I know that you wouldn't believe me anyway."

I grinned. "You're right, I wouldn't."

"Bella, you gonna get our pizza or what?" Angela yelled over at me.

I rolled my eyes. "I guess I better get back before she turns into a cannibal." I said as I turned away from Edward.

"Bella, wait." Edward said as he grabbed my arm.

I turned back around. "Yeah?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "There's actually a real reason why I'm here."

"You mean besides so you can spy on me?" I cut in.

He smiled. "Yeah, besides that."

"And what would that be?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out sometime?"

I felt the butterflies go crazy in my stomach as my heart began to race. I smiled up at him, and Edward immediately smiled back, already knowing what my answer was going to be.

"I thought you'd never ask."


	11. Chapter 11

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"Bella, Bella Swan." I yelled as I ran through the hallways. She stopped walking and turned around, grinning at me as I approached her.

"Can I help you, Mr. Cullen?" she asked with a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Yeah, actually you can. I was wondering if you'd like to sit with me and my friends at lunch today."

Angela opened her mouth to say something, but Rosalie's hand snapped over her mouth, getting an icy glare sent her way from Angela.

"I'd love to." Bella said.

I felt my lips turn up into a smile. "Great, I'll meet you at your locker after fourth hour." I said.

Bella smiled and then we both turned around to walk in opposite directions. Emmett attacked me as I rounded the corner, and held his hand up for me to high five. I smiled widely after high fiving him and we ran to first hour, not wanting to get another detention for being late.

"What should I tell my pen pal?" Emmett asked from beside me.

I looked up at the board seeing that our topic is Something that we want and then looked back at him. I shrugged my shoulders as I chewed on the cap of my pen. "Dunno bro, something stupid like how you want a bigger dick."

Emmett grinned. "I'm glad you're my best friend." He said and started writing.

_Iz,  
One thing that I want right now is a huge bowl of Mac n Cheese. I woke up late this morning, so I didn't have time for breakfast and now I'm starving. But overall, one thing that I want is a Nintendo 64 cause it's the best gaming system ever. I think my parents are getting me one as a graduation gift. They won't tell me for sure, but I have a good feeling that they are. By the way, thanks for the advice, I took it and now I have plans to hang out with this girl. Cool, right? Don't go thinking that you get all the credit though; I know girls sometimes like to do that. My friends pushed me to ask her too, and I believe I should get the most credit since I'm the one who actually asked her. Just saying.  
Anthony._

_PS, I can't believe you hung out with someone out of pity. That doesn't seem like you at all, but you definitely just gained a little bit more respect from me._

The next three classes could not have one by any slower. My leg bounced in anticipation as I stared at the clock. I was so anxious that I couldn't even sleep in algebra. When the bell that signaled that fourth hour was over finally rang I jumped out of my desk and shot into the hallway. I sighed in relief when I saw Bella already at her locker. She gave me a warm smile as I approached.

"Ready for lunch?" I asked as I held my arm out for her.

"Absolutely." She said with a grin as she looped her arm through mine.

"Alright, just letting you know though, Emmett may try to steal your Elmo lunchbox."

She gasped. "No!"

After I drug Bella through the lunch line with me, we finally made it to my table. Everyone greeted us, and gave Bella a warm smile, especially Alice. Bella pulled out her lunch and Emmett gasped.

"Is that a pb&j?!" he asked excitedly.

Bella laughed. "Yeah, want half?" she asked as she handed him the second half of her sandwich.

"Do I ever!" Emmett exclaimed and took it from her. "Man, pb&j sandwich, Elmo lunchbox, you're the coolest, Bella. You should always eat lunch with us." Emmett said with a grin.

"I agree, it would be so nice to not be the only girl here." Alice said.

Bella laughed as she bit off a piece of her apple. "Well, I guess if I'm invited to eat lunch with you guys in the future, then I will."

Jasper laughed. "You're always welcome, right Edward?"

Bella looked over at me. "Of course." I said and slung my arm around her shoulders. "You never need an invitation to eat with us."

She laughed. "Good to know, because I can already tell that lunch with you guys is much more fun then lunch with my other friends."

"Hells yeah, no one is more fun than us." Emmett said and held his hand up for her to high five.

Bella looked at his hand and then over at all of us. She grinned, but made no move to high five Emmett.

"Bella, c'mon." Emmett whined.

"He won't put his hand down until you high five him." I informed her.

"Really?" she asked upping her eyebrows.

"Really." All four of us said together.

She laughed and looked back at Emmett. His bottom lip was jutted out and he wimped lightly. Bella laughed and took another bite out of her apple, ignoring him.

"Yes, please eat lunch with us every day." Jasper said grinning.

**Bella's POV**

"Bella, seriously think about what you're doing." Angela said.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm hanging out with Edward, it's really not a big deal."

"You know he's broken every girl's heart that he's ever dated." Mike said.

"And how would you know that?" I shot back.

"Seriously guys, lay off. Edward isn't a bad guy." Rosalie said.

"Thanks Rose, now let's get to class before we're late." I said and drug her away.

"You know, in a twisted way, they're just trying to protect you." Rose said lightly once we sat down.

I sighed. "I know, but I'm so tired of them always on my back about this. They don't even know him, and he's not a bad guy. And I'm going to hang out with him, no matter what they say."

Rosalie smiled. "Good, because you totally love him."

I rolled my eyes, and looked down at my piece of paper so she wouldn't see my blush. I picked my pencil up and started writing.

_Anthony,  
I am so proud/excited that you and this girl are hanging out! Sure, you can have the most credit for growing a pair and asking her, but I do claim a small amount for giving you the extra push to do so. I hope all goes well on your date thing! You seem like a really awesome guy, so this girl is very lucky to have you interested in her. The one thing I want is a puppy. I've wanted one for so long, but my parents always told me no. I used to have one when I was a kid; his name was Chester, but someone stole him. It was pretty much one of the saddest days of my life. Maybe I'll get a puppy for my graduation gift. Probably not, but one can dream.  
Iz._

_PS, Pity hang outs aren't something I do often, but sometimes they must be done._

Butterflies erupted in my stomach when I saw Edward leaned against my locker after school. He grinned as I approached and moved so I could get into my locker. After I tossed my Trig book, both notebooks, and my lunchbox in my backpack I closed my locker and turned to him.

"I'm ready when you are."

"Great, let's get going." He said and took my hand in his, leading me out to the senior parking lot and over to his car.

"So where are we going?" I asked as I flipped through his cds.

"Mall?" he asked as he looked over at me.

"What girl wouldn't want to go to the mall?"

He grinned and I changed his Green Day cd for Third Eye Blind, turning up Jumper and started singing along. Edward smiled at me from the corner of his eye and started singing too as he drove to the mall.

"So Bella, tell me something about yourself." Edward said as we sat at the food court.

I sipped my iced tea and shrugged my shoulders. "What do you want to know?"

"What do you do in your spare time?" he asked.

"Well besides tennis, I hang out with Rosalie, play barbies with my little sister, and occasionally go to the mall with random boys." I said, ending in a smirk. "What about you?"

"Video games and my band pretty much consume my time. But you know, every now and then I find a girl I like enough to let cut into that time."

I felt my cheeks blush and I popped a french fry in my mouth. "Favorite color?" I asked him.

"Blue, it's the best."

"If by blue you really mean green, then yes I agree, it is the best."

Edward laughed lightly and stole a drink of my iced tea. He grinned as he passed the glass back and forth between his hands before I stole it so I could have a drink.

"What would you think about hanging out more often?" he asked randomly.

"I think that I would like that very much."


	12. Chapter 12

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"So when are you gonna hangout with Bella again?" Emmett asked as we sat in first hour.

I shrugged. "Dunno. She has tennis like every fucking day and by the time she gets out, we're having band practice. So it's kinda hard." I replied as I stared down at my blank piece of paper.

"Dude, just invite her to band practice." He said in a duh tone. "Or, or! Better idea! Throw a party this weekend! Your parents are going out of town anyway."

I grinned over at my best friend. "Sometimes it's scares me that you have good ideas that don't involve cartoons and cereal."

Emmett rolled his eyes and shoved my shoulder. "Whatever man, just write your letter."

I sighed and wiped my face with my hands. "I can't. I don't have a fucking favorite book. I don't even like to read."

"Who says you have to follow the topic? I never do. And it's not like Armstrong reads them anyway."

"Okay, really. Since when do you have good ideas?"

Emmett rolled his eyes again and went back to writing. I looked down at my blank paper feeling less stressed about writing now. Since I didn't have a favorite book, why not talk about my favorite band? I mean, they're practically the same thing.

Iz_,  
This may, or may not come as a surprise to you, but I don't have a favorite book. In fact, I avoid reading at all costs. I think it's boring and it always makes me sleepy. So, instead I'm going to talk about one of my favorite bands. Ever heard of New Found Glory? If not, you need to put this down right now, run to the nearest music store, buy the album Nothing Gold Can Stay, and listen to it until you know every single song word for word. It will change your life, I promise. It changed mine. They're in my top four favorites. Blink-182 will always be my favorite. But New Found Glory ties for second with Jimmy Eat World, and right below is Green Day. If you don't know who they are, which I find unlikely, then you must go buy their cds too.  
_Anthony

_PS, if you happen to love these bands as much as I do, then you might be the coolest girl in the entire world._

"I'll see you in P.E., man." I said as I hopped up when the bell rang.

"Where are you going?" Emmett asked as I walked towards the door.

"To see Bella, duh."

"Dude, you're ditching me and you're not even dating her yet. You're obsessed." He yelled to me as I walked out the door.

I walked through the halls quickly, trying to get to Bella's locker. When I rounded the corner I saw her and Mike having an intense conversation. The feeling of jealousy overtook me, and I quickened my pace ever more to get there. Bella saw me out of the corner of her eye and smiled widely.

"And here's my escort now." She said as I approached.

"Hey." I said smoothly as I grabbed her books out of her hand, and ignored Mike completely. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'll see you later Mike." She said.

I slipped my hand in hers and pulled her away. We walked through the halls slowly, trying to maximize our amount of time together, and as we walked we got strange looks shot at us. I looked down at our laced hands and then over at Bella, seeing a smile on her lips and a light blush on her cheeks.

"Thanks for walking me, Edward." She said as she took her books from me. "I really enjoy our walks." She said and laughed at how lame it sounded.

"Well I do too." I said with a grin.

Before I knew what I was even doing, I leaned in and pressed my lips to her cheek. I pulled away, letting them linger for just a second and then pulled back completely, giving her a playful smirk.

"I'll see you later."

**Bella's POV**

I had been on cloud nine since the passing time between first and second period. Not only had Edward and I held hands, but he kissed my cheek. I felt like a twelve year old girl for getting so excited. But Edward is the first guy in a long time that I had liked, and just knowing that he liked me too delighted me.

The smile on my face was permanent; it just couldn't be wiped off. I was smiling so much that my cheeks hurt, but I just couldn't stop. Rosalie laughed at me as I hummed and bobbed my head to the song that Armstrong was playing in his room.

"Seriously Bella, you look like you're freaking drugged."

I laughed lightly as I felt myself blush. "I'm just in a great mood."

She nodded her head. "Trust me, I know. Everyone in the school knows."

I rolled my eyes and continued writing as I sang along to I Will Follow You Into the Dark.

_Anthony,  
Well, it's official. I am the coolest girl in the world. Not only do I know all of those bands, but I happen to love them too. Slightly different order than you. Mine goes Green Day, Blink-182, New Found Glory, and Jimmy Eat World. But close enough. I get that you don't like to read, honestly, I'm not a huge fan. But I do enjoy it. My favorite book is The Perks of Being a Wallflower. And truthfully, I think if you read it, you would like it. It's about an awkward quiet kid starting high school. He doesn't have many friends, and he's not really understood by his family. But he makes friends eventually. Falls in love, gets drunk and high. You know, typical high school stuff. You should definitely give it a try.  
Iz_

_PS, Jumper is one of the best songs ever written, agreed?_

When the final bell rang I looked over at Rose and grinned. She shooed me away, knowing that Edward was at my locker and I squealed s I hugged her and then gathered my books. When I got to the hall where my locker was, I saw Edward leaned against it with one leg crossed in front of the other.

"You know, if we weren't such good friends, I would think that you're stalking me." I said with a smirk as I walked up.

Edward looked my way with a small grin plastered on his face. "Well I only stalk the prettiest girls in school, so feel honored that I think so highly of you."

I laughed as he handed me my backpack out of my locker and helped me put all of my books and notebooks in it. After I zipped it up I slung it over my shoulder and grinned at Edward. He held his hand out, and I slipped mine in his making my heart start beating faster.

"So I was talking to Emmett earlier." He started.

"Who gave him a high five? I saw him later yesterday and his hand was down." I cut in and then bit my lip.

Edward laughed. "Jasper did. Mr. Dublin kept getting pissed because he thought Emmett had a question."

I laughed. "Sorry for cutting you off, what were you saying?"

"Anyway, we were talking earlier and he had a good idea. You see, my parents are going out of town this weekend for their honeymoon so I'm going to have a party on Saturday night. And I want you to be there."

My heart sunk, and for the first time since 8:30 this morning, my smile faded. "Edward, I would love to. But I have an out of town tennis tournament. I leave Friday after school and won't be home until Sunday afternoon." I said with a frown.

Edward sighed. "Alright, well if you're not dead tired on Sunday, and I'm not hung over to the point where I feel like I'm dying, how about we hang out on Sunday?"

My smile returned as we stopped outside the girls' locker room. "I should be home at noon on Sunday. Why don't you just pick me up from here? Cause this is where the bus will drop us off."

"I'd love to."


	13. Chapter 13

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"This is a stupid topic." Emmett grumbled as he erased whatever it is that he had written.

I nodded. "Yeah, I mean obviously everyone is going to ask their pen pal who they are."

Emmett scoffed. "Not me. I don't care who my pen pal is."

I rolled my eyes. "Then what are you going to ask her?"

Emmett thought for a minute before he grinned over at me. "I'm going to ask her if she's a virgin. I bet she is. She has to be. She acts like she's sixty, and there's nothing hot about a teenage girl who knits sweaters in her spare time."

I laughed lightly, but nodded in agreement. "That's true, bro."

Emmett began writing again, and I turned back to my blank sheet of paper. My eyes wandered around, not finding anything exciting to distract me. So I sighed, and hunched over my desk as I began to write.

_Iz,  
I don't know about you, but I think that is Armstrong is going to make us write about specific things, he should at least give us good topics. There's so much more than just one thing that I want to know about you. The most important being who you are, of course. And it's stupid that that can't be what I ask, because you can't tell me. Fuck anonymous pen pals. But I guess my question to you will be, what's something you've always wanted to learn how to do? I've always wanted to learn how to snowboard, because that just looks like it would be wicked cool. Don't you think so too?  
Anthony._

_PS, make you question a good one, okay?_

"Dude, they're having meatloaf for lunch today. That's fucking sick." Emmett said as he looked at the lunch menu that was tacked up to the corkboard in the hall.

I scrunched up my face. "I don't even like my mom's meatloaf."

Emmett smacked my arm. "Here comes Bella." He said and pointed down the hall.

"Which means it's time for you to get lost." I said as I shoved him around the corner.

Bella smiled, and I waved her over. It wasn't until she was almost to me that I realized that she was with Angela. Angela glared daggers at me as they approached and crossed her arms over her chest, when Bella hugged me tightly.

"So have any plans for lunch?" I asked her as I took her hand in mine and slowly started walking down the hall.

"Nope."

"Well, they're having meatloaf today and I really hate that shit. So how would you feel about sneaking off campus with me? We could get Mc Donalds or something."

Bella was about to answer when Angela ripped her hand out of mine and let her icy glare reach my eyes. "Look Cullen, everyone knows that you don't care about your grades but stop trying to pull my best friend down with you." She spat and pulled Bella away.

I remained standing in the same spot as I scratched the back of my neck, trying to process what just happened. I heard yelling coming from around the corner, and when I looked up I saw Bella stomping back to me. This time, without Angela.

"I'm so sorry." She said as she stood in front of me.

I shrugged my shoulders, not sure of what to say.

"I would love to go out to lunch with you today, if your offer still stands."

I grinned down at her. "Of course it does."

"Great, then I'll meet you at my locker." She said and got on her tip toes, kissing my cheek lightly.

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

**Bella's POV**

"I heard you're skipping lunch with Edward." Rosalie said as she sent a smirk my way.

"Yeah." I said as I bit my lip. "I am."

"Excited?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"I'm so excited."

The bell rang and I squealed, getting looks from my fellow classmates as they gathered their things and began to exit the room. Rosalie smiled at me as we walked through the halls and then wished me luck when we saw Edward.

"Ready to get out of here?" Edward asked as I walked up.

I nodded. "I'm ready. A little nervous, because I've never done this before. But definitely ready."

Edward chuckled and grabbed my hand. "Trust me, it's a piece of cake." He said as we walked through the hallways. "Once we get behind the lunch room, we're gonna run to my car. Ready?" he asked as we walked around the cafeteria.

"Ready." I said and we took off running.

Edward and I slid into a booth in Mc Donalds. I pulled my ten piece chicken nugget meal at out of bag as he unwrapped one of his double cheeseburgers and popped a fry I his mouth.

"So do you have tennis today?" he asked me.

I sighed. "I pretty much have tennis every day."

Edward frowned. "Well, one of these days you're going to have to come to a band practice. I'm dying to know what you think of us."

"I'd love to." I said with a grin on my face.

"Great, then skip tennis today."

I laughed as I took a bite of my chicken. "You are such a bad influence."

"That's a yes, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll skip."

Edward grinned widely before leaning across the table and kissing my cheek. I felt myself blush, and I looked down at my food.

"So can I ask why your friends hate me so much?"

I sighed as I sipped my lemonade and Edward looked at me intently.

"Angela and Mike are just douche bags. They were brought up to believe that anyone who wasn't ridiculously rich, is beneath them. Plus, they both believe anything that they hear around school, so they hear all these rumors about you being a jerk, and breaking hearts so they don't want me hanging out with you. I guess in a weird way, they think that they're protecting me." I said as I shook my head.

Edward sat silent for a minute, before nodding his head and taking another bite of his cheeseburger. I couldn't help but squirm at the silence that I found awkward as I waited for him to say something.

Instead, he pulled out his phone and checked the time. "We should probably get back to school, lunch is almost over."

Edward and I stood up, and as he was about to walk away, I grabbed his arm so he would face me. I searched his eyes, figuring out that he was hurt from what my friends thought about him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and leaned up, kissing his cheek once more.

"I know that you're nothing like what everyone says you are." I said softly.

Edward gave me a real smile as his arms wound around me. "Good."

I sat down in my six hour, grinning at Rosalie as I read Anthony's letter. I was in a good mood, and I told Rosalie that I would tell her all about it next hour.

_Anthony,  
I agree. Armstrong should definitely start giving us better topics, because like you, I want to know more than just one thing. And also like you, I would love to know who you really are, because I still have absolutely no idea. To answer your question, the one thing that I would love to learn how to do is to play guitar. I think that would be awesome, although I also agree that learning how to snowboard would be super awesome as well. Since the pressure is on for me to ask you a great question, I've spent most of the hour trying to come up with a good idea. Let's hope this meets your standards of a good question. What's one thing you can't live without? I know I couldn't live without my Xbox.  
Iz_

_PS, I think my question is better than yours._


	14. Chapter 14

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

I sighed as I slumped down in my desk, unable to think about anything other than Bella and the words that Angela had spat at me the day before. Was I bringing Bella down? When I took a closer look at her and her surroundings I almost wanted to slap myself.

How did I ever think that Bella and I could ever be together? We're so completely different. Different groups, different friends, different interests, and yet, somehow I was still drawn towards her. I couldn't explain it, because I didn't even understand. All I knew is that Angela was probably right.

If I really cared about Bella, I would let her go. I had already got her to skip class, and agree to skip tennis practice. I was turning her into someone she's not, and there was no way I would ever be able to live with the guilt that would be placed on me if I fucked up her chances of getting into her dream college.

I rubbed my face as I sighed again, and finally focused on Iz's letter. I had to read it a few times because I wasn't fully concentrating, but finally got all the way through it and then looked at the board to see that our topic is our favorite quote.

_Iz,  
Well, to answer your question, the one thing I wouldn't be able to live without is my guitar, although it would be a real struggle to get along without my Xbox. And now on to the worst topic of the day so far. Favorite quote. I bet you think it's going to be music related, well you're wrong. My favorite quote comes from a wise man by the name of Edward Abbey and it goes like this "To the intelligent life appears infinitely mysterious. But the stupid have an answer for every question." And it's my favorite because I always hate those kids in class that think they know everything, but they really don't. Well, that's all I really have to say. Sorry, I'm just not exactly in the writing mood.  
Anthony_

_PS, Five bucks says your quote is about love._

"So, are you stoked for Bella to come to our band practice today?" Emmett asked as we left the classroom.

I shook my head and let another sigh escape my mouth. "She's not coming, dude."

"What, why?"

I saw Bella at her locker, and her eyes locked on mine. She smiled widely at me, and I gave her a brief one before opening my locker and tossing my notebook inside.

"So, I'll see you in P.E.?" Emmett asked.

"Nah, I'll walk with you."

"Why aren't you walking Bella, she's waiting for you."

I shook my head. "Man, Bella and I would never work so I might as well just drop it now."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can't explain it. All I know is that she'll be better off without me."

"Are you sure? You've worked pretty hard to get her interested, and now you're just throwing it away?"

I slammed my locker shut, and placed my lock back on it, before turning to Emmett and giving him a hard glare. "I'm fucking sure, now can we just drop it?"

Emmett put his hands up in surrender. "Yeah Edward, let's get going or we'll be late to P.E."

I huffed and turned to walk with Emmett. I shoved my hands in my pockets and let my head drop when I walked by Bella. I didn't want to have to see her confused and possibly hurt expression. If I saw that look, then I would turn around and talk to her. And I couldn't do that.

Maybe I was being a coward, or maybe I really was looking out for Bella. All I knew is that there was no way that she and I could ever work. And what's the point of trying if you know it'll only end badly? It seemed like walking away was the only thing to do. Sure, she may be hurt now, but it would hurt less now, then four months down the road when we graduate and we both go our separate ways.

**Bella's POV**

My head was spinning and my heart was hurting as I watched Edward walk right past me between first and second hour. I had no idea why he had been ignoring me all day, but I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all. I was hurt that he could just walk past me and act like he didn't have a clue who I was.

"What do you think I did?" I asked Rosalie as we sat in sixth hour.

Rosalie shook her head and gave me a sympathetic look. "I really have no idea. I'm just as confused as you are, Bella."

I sighed. "I thought he liked me." I said softly.

Rosalie leaned over and patted my arm. "I'm sure he does, maybe something just happened. Like personal wise, maybe something with his family."

I shook my head, unconvinced. "I don't know."

"Well, maybe you should try talking to him."

"I don't want to seem desperate, or pathetic. And I feel like that's how I would look if I ask him why he's been ignoring me."

"You wouldn't look like that, you would just look confused. Which you are, because he's really not making any sense. I mean, he's been flirting with you for weeks."

"I know."

"Maybe just wait until tomorrow? You know, to see if he goes back to his old self."

I shrugged. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe he's just having an off day or something."

"Exactly."

I smiled over at her and she grinned before going back to writing to her pen pal. Guilt washed over me as I looked down at Anthony's letter that was sitting on my desk. I picked it up and read through it another time, frowning at the fact that he is also having a bad day.

_Anthony,  
I figured guitar would be the answer to my question, or your Blink-182 cds. Your quote is so true, and I agree. Those kids who always think that they know the answer, and are always wrong need to just shut the hell up. It's so annoying. You are right though, my quote is about love. I guess even though I live and breathe video games, I still am a girl and I love, love. Anyway, my quote is "Love and electricity are one in the same, my dear. If you do not feel the jolt in your soul every time a kiss is shared, a whisper is spoken, a touch is felt, then you're not really in love at all." And it's by C.J. Franks. I find it unbelievably true, but maybe that's just my girly side coming out.  
Iz_

_PS, you're right again; I was expecting your quote to have something to do with music._

By the time Rosalie and I got into the hallway, I saw Edward at his locker with Emmett and Jasper. Edward threw his head back, howling with laughter as Emmett talked adamantly, throwing his hands everywhere. My heart sank, as the idea of Edward just having a bad day left my mind.

Rosalie looped her arm around mine, pulling me down the hallway as I let my head drop. She talked quietly, telling me that it's still possible for him to act different tomorrow. My blinked a few times, making my misty eyes clear as we reached my locker.

"Hey, Bella."

I turned around, seeing Emmett standing in front of me awkwardly. I watched as he gave me a hesitant smile and shifted his weight from what foot to the other.

"Hi Emmett." I said quietly.

"Look." He sighed as his eyes flicked to Edward as him, Jasper, and Alice walked past and then looked back at me. "Um, we're not having band practice today, Edward wanted me to tell you."

I sucked in a breath and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"But maybe you could come a different day." He added quickly.

"Yeah, sure. Some other day." I repeated.

"Yeah, so I guess I'll see you around." Emmett said as he gave me a final smile and jogged to catch up with his friends.

Rosalie hugged me tightly, and as I looked over her shoulder I saw Edward and his friends standing by the doors that led to the gym, and beyond the gym, the school parking lot. I pulled myself out of Rosalie's grip and told her I would see her later.

I grabbed my backpack out of my locker, throwing my books into it and grabbed my racquet. My mind was racing almost as fast as my heart was when I zipped up my backpack and tossed it over my shoulder. I lend my head up high as I walked through the halls. Edward's eyes were watching me, and I noticed that he quit talking when I got close. I didn't bother to glance his way, because I knew that he would just look away. Instead, a walked right past them and out to my car.

School was the last place I wanted to be.


	15. Chapter 15

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

Not talking to Bella was killing me, but I kept telling myself that it was for the best. With a little bit of time, she'll forget me and move on to someone who will be good for her; that wouldn't start changing her and cared about grades as much as she did. Someone like Mike.

I shook that bitter thought from my head and looked up to the board as I gridded my teeth. My eyes went to my right, seeing Emmett write with a smile on his face. The topic of the day is our biggest regret. A small sigh came out of my mouth as my brother flooded into my brain and I started writing before I talked myself out of it.

_Iz,  
I guess I should give you a heads up and let you know that this letter is not only extremely personal and difficult to write, but also serious. I know I haven't been very serious in any of my letters, but this one is different. Two years ago by brother committed suicide and my biggest regret is not noticing all the signs. Looking back, they were everywhere. He was depressed, and at the time none of us knew. He was quiet and moody, didn't want to do anything, very argumentative, didn't sleep or eat much, rarely smiled. But we all just thought that he was going through some weird phase. The biggest sign though, was when he gave me his autographed New Found Glory tshirt. He loved that thing more than like he loved our mom and he just gave it to me. I should have known then that something wasn't right, but instead I just took it and said "Cool, thanks man." I didn't even ask why he was giving it to me. Yeah, hands down that's my biggest regret.  
Anthony._

_PS, I hope our next topic is something fun. I hate being serious._

I blinked back a few tears and sucked in a breath, letting it out slow and shaky. I rested my head in my heads and gave myself a mental pep talk, telling me to pull my shit together and then stuffed the letter in the envelope before I tore it up and threw it away.

I had never been more thankful for a class to end in my life. Emmett and I both handed our letters to Armstrong as we left the class and walked into the hallway. Jasper was standing by our lockers, hand locked with Alice's as they both smiled at us.

"Bella looks so sad." Alice said as she frowned and looked over at Bella.

I sighed as I spun the lock on my locker and listened to my three best friends try to guilt me into talking to her. Once I told them the real reason why I quit talking to Bella they all took turns punching me and telling me that I'm an idiot. I shook my head as I tossed my notebook in and closed my locker.

"Yeah, if only she had someone to talk to." Emmett said sadly.

"God, will you guys just fucking drop it?" I growled.

"Edward, come on. You like her and obviously she likes you too. It's not like she's going to skip with you all the time, dude. And it's never killed anyone to skip a few times." Jasper said, trying to get through to me.

I shook my head. "Look, I know you guys are just trying to help, but seriously, I'm not in the mood to deal with this. Not you guys, not Bella, not anything."

I made the terrible mistake at looking over at Bella's locker. Mike, Angela, and Rosalie were all standing around her and talking, but Bella was zoned out, with a frown on her face. Rosalie nudged her lightly, giving her a weak smile and I watched as Bella faked a smile back and then looked down, becoming extremely interested in her shoes.

"Man, what crawled up your ass?" Alice asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

My eyes hardened without me even wanting them to as I looked at my three friends. "You wanna know?" I asked through gritted teeth. "I just wrote about my dead brother, so sorry I'm not exactly in a great mood." I spat.

Alice's face softened and she took a step towards me to pull me into a hug, but I put my hands up to stop her. I knew if she hugged me I wouldn't be able to keep myself together, and I refused to have some sort of breakdown at school.

"Can we just go to fucking P.E.?" I said to all of them.

I watched them all nod and tried to hide their sympathetic looks. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, hating how they were all feeling sorry for Denali walked past us in the hall. The same girl that Emmett has hated since we were in sixth grade. I looked over at Emmett as he scoffed at her presence. When his eyes locked on mine, he smiled widely.

"Hey Tanya." Emmett called out.

Tanya turned around and Emmett flipped her off, making Tanya gasp and turn around walking away faster then she had already been. Emmett and I howled with laughter and exchanged a fist bump.

"That just turned my day right back around."

**Bella's POV**

When I read Anthony's letter, my heart broke into pieces. I had never felt so bad for someone before. I frowned as I looked down at my black sheet of paper. I knew what my biggest regret is, but someone it just didn't seem as big as his. I felt like I needed to offer some words of comfort or something to him, and although I wasn't sure what to say, I knew I needed to try.

_Anthony,  
I am so incredibly sorry about your brother. I know what it feels like to lose someone close to you by suicide, and it's the worst feeling in the world. But you should know that it's not your fault, not at all. When I had to go to counseling, my counselor said that it's statistically proven that 3/5 of people who have already made up their mind to commit suicide can't be talked out of it. I know that's not exactly the most comforting thought, but yeah. My biggest regret seems very petty now; because it's just that I regret not doing more to keep my family together. I feel like if I would have pushed for us to go to family therapy, or to spend more time together all of us would still be living in the same house. My mom keeps telling me that this was inevitable, but I don't believe that at all. I feel like all of us just gave up, and when someone needed to step up and make a move to keep us together, I just sat back and watched it all fall apart.  
Iz._

_PS, I like not being serious much more than this too._

I looked at Edward as him and Emmett stood at their lockers. My heart still started beating faster whenever I saw him, even though it's been a week since we've talked. I still haven't gotten an explanation, and in this course of the week I went from upset, to angry, to just confused. I wanted answers, and I was determined to get them.

"Rose, I see you tomorrow." I said as I closed my locker.

"Alright, bye Bella." She replied and started walking out to the parking lot.

"Bella, hurry up or we'll be later for practice." Angela said.

"No." I said as I shook my head. "You go ahead, I'll be there soon."

"Okay, I'll save our court." She said as she picked up her backpack and walked down the halls and towards the gym.

I took a deep breath and told myself that I could do this. Before giving it any more thought, I let my legs start to carry me down the hallway and stop by Edward. Emmett smiled at me, and then cleared his throat so Edward would turn around, and when he did a mix emotion was showing on his face.

"Nice to see you, Bella but I'm gonna get going. I'll see you later, Edward." Emmett said and walked away without a word.

"Uh." Edward said as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Edward, what is going on?" I asked much calmer then I felt.

"What, uh, what do you mean?"

I sighed. "Why are you avoiding me, did I do something?"

Edward opened his mouth but then closed it as he let his breath out. "Bella." He said softly. "We're so different, we just don't fit together."

"Does this have anything to do with what Angela said?"

"No." he said quickly. "Okay, maybe a little bit." He admitted after a brief staring contest.

"Edward." I whined as I shoved his shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't care what anyone thinks about you and me?"

"I know." He sighed. "But I just feel like I'm changing you."

"Because I skipped a class? Big deal, this may be a shock to you, but it's not the first time and it won't be the last."

"Really?" he asked, clearly shocked.

I laughed lightly. "Yes, really. Look, you're not going to change me, and so what if you do? If I don't want to do something, then I won't, and if I do, then I will. It's really as simple as that."

"Well then I guess I owe you an apology."

"Yes, Mr. Cullen, you do." I said as I smiled up at him.

Edward's hand rested on my hips, pulling me into him and I grinned as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for being an idiot." He said softly.

"It's okay." I said just as softly.

Edward's eyes were focused on mine as a slow smile appeared on his lips. He reached up and tucked a strand of my long blonde hair behind my ear, then rested his hand on my cheek.

"Bella, seriously, coach is gonna be pissed if you're late." Angela yelled through the mostly empty halls.

"I'll be right there." I said and she rolled her eyes, and took off running towards the courts again.

"I guess you should get going." Edward said.

I smiled up at him, as I got on my tip toes. Our faces were only centimeters apart, and Edward's warm breath made my skin tingle when it came in contact with my cheeks. I returned his smile and leaned in a little bit. Edward responded quickly and closed the gap, pressing his lips to mine and making my whole body go crazy with the feeling of butterflies.

Kissing Edward is by far, the greatest feeling in the world.

* * *

**YAY!!!!!**


	16. Chapter 16

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"So, Edward." Emmett said as he smirked over at me. "Prom tickets go on sale today."

I nodded as I glanced from him to the bored as Armstrong wrote the topic of the day. Write like you're apologizing to someone for something you've done wrong. Yet again, another great topic. My eyes went back to Emmett, seeing him still smirking.

"Yeah, they do." I finally said.

"Are you gonna ask Bella?"

I shrugged, even though I really knew the answer. "I haven't given it much though." I lied.

Emmett's smirk grew as he saw right through my lie and shoved my arm, making me smile and laugh. He laughed too as he shook his head at me. "I believe that for a minute but figured it out. You can't get anything past me, man."

"I guess not." I said as I opened my notebook.

I sighed as I ignored Emmett's babbling about how he was too smart to believe any lies I told him and focused on what to write about. I didn't want to write about my brother again, that was too hard. And I almost couldn't finish Iz's last letter. Her telling me that it wasn't my fault was almost too much for me to take. So instead, I decided to write like I'm apologizing to Bella.

_Iz,  
My apology goes out to a fantastic girl that I almost let slip through my fingers because I was being an idiot and wouldn't listen to anyone. So here it goes. Dear girl, you truly are incredible. It may seem like it's taken me awhile to figure that out, but it really hasn't. I was just stupid, and truthfully, a little scared. Honestly, I've never felt this way before and it scares the shit out of me. I think that my excuse on distancing myself from you didn't have a thing to do with anyone else except for me. I think my friends were right and I was just pushing you away because I was scared. But I'm over that now, so I promise you that there won't be any more hot and cold coming from me. I'm ready now to let this take its course, and I'm so ready to see what's going to happen.  
Anthony._

_PS, How young is too young to be in love?_

"Hey, Bella." I said as I swooped down and planted a brief kiss on her cheek.

"Hey." She replied as she smiled and grabbed her lunch box out of her locker.

"Wanna sit with us at lunch today?" I asked.

"No, no. Not today, Edward. Bella and I are talking prom dresses." Rosalie said excitedly as she held up a handful of magazines and grinned at both of us.

I shrugged. "Then why don't you sit with us too?"

"Well, uh-"

"Yeah Rose, sit with us!" Bella said as she jutted her bottom lip out.

Rosalie sighed immediately. "Don't give me that face, fine. I'll sit with you guys."

Bella cheered and hugged Rosalie briefly, then laced her hand with mine, and looped her other arm with Rosalie's as we all walked over to the cafeteria.

When we got in there, Rosalie and Bella sat with Jasper and Alice as I met up with Emmett. He handed me the two prom tickets in exchange for the fifty dollars and then we hopped into the lunch line.

"Thanks for getting these for me man, I really wanna surprise Bella."

"No problem." Emmett said with a shrug. "How do you plan on asking her?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I have no fucking idea."

Emmett laughed lightly as we both grabbed a burger and french fries, putting them on our trays, next to our bottle of sodas and packets of ketchup.

"I'd just ask her, and the sooner the better, cause you never know about Mike."

I let my eyes scan the cafeteria seeing Mike purchasing two prom tickets. My eyes were stuck on him as he stared at Bella from across the room, making me blood boil. I definitely needed to ask her soon.

**Bella's POV**

"I think I want a blue dress." I said to Rosalie as I pulled my English book out of my locker.

"Like bright, dark, or pale?"

"Darkish-bright, for sure. If that even exists."

"Yeah, that would look great." She said and smiled.

I was about to reply when I saw Mike walking up with a grin on his face. Both of his hands were behind his back and he stopped in front of us, still grinning as he locked his eyes on mine.

"Hey, Bella. How are you?"

"I'm good." I said hesitantly. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, hoping to turn alright into fantastic though." He said as he pulled one hand out from behind his back and swept his blonde hair across his forehead.

"Um, well I hope you can do that." I said as I shut my locker.

"Bella, will you go to prom with me?" he blurted out.

My jaw dropped open and my eyes snapped to Rosalie seeing her stare big eyed between both of us. My heart dropped into my stomach and I felt my shoulders droop. I didn't want to go to prom with Mike, I wanted Edward to ask me. And if I couldn't do with Edward, then I didn't want to go with anyone at all.

"Actually Mike." I said slowly. "I'm not really even sure if I'm going. We may have a tennis tournament that weekend."

"Well, be my date if you can go."

"No." I said sweetly as I shook my head. "I don't want to tell you that I'll be your date and then not be able to go. I mean, I won't know until like the week before. So you should ask someone who can give you a definite answer." I said and patted his arm.

"Yeah." He said and dropped his gaze. "Sure, you're right. I'll see you later." He said, giving me a brief smile and walking away without another word.

"I feel horrible." I said as I frowned at Rosalie and slid into my desk in sixth period, English.

Rosalie shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. He'll probably go with Angela."

I looked at the bored and groaned, somehow feeling like the topic of the day completely fit. I frowned at Rosalie again ad she gave me a reassuring smile as we both opened our letters. Anthony's letter put a smile on my face as I read through it. I loved everything about it, and how he said that he was completely ready for what was ahead of them. I wished that every guy would be like Anthony, especially Edward.

_Anthony,  
I'm not really sure if its capable to be too young for love. Like, my grandparents started dating when they were twelve, and are still together. Amazing, I know. So, I don't think there is a age limit. When you find it, you find it. My letter is to a guy that I used to be close with, but I'm not with anymore because he likes me way more then I like him. Dear guy, we've been friends since sixth grade. Actually, you were my friend real guy friend, and we used to be so close. I miss the closeness that we once had, but know that nothing can be done to fix it because to be able to fix that I would either have to develop feelings for you, or you would have to get over yours. And we both know that neither of those things will happen. I wish that I could like you as more than a friend, but I just can't. Some things just can't be fixed. I wish that our friendship was one of the things that could be, but honestly I don't think that we could ever go back to the way we once were. I'm sorry.  
Iz._

_PS, do you think I'm wrong for feeling that way?_

The final bell rang, and butterflies swarmed my stomach since I knew that I would be seeing Edward soon. Rosalie grinned as we gathered our books and walked to my locker, already seeing Edward standing there. He bent down, capturing my lips in a kiss that made me weak at the knees and moved so I could get in my locker.

"So Bella." Edward said smoothly as he wrapped an arm around my waist. "Prom's coming up."

I felt my lips twitch upward into a big grin as I looked at him. "Yeah, it sure is."

"And I was wondering if you'd like to be my date." He said as he gave me an adorable grin.

"Bella-" Rosalie started.

"I'd love to." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again.

"Really, Bella?"

We separated and I turned around, seeing Mike standing behind me with both of his arms out, and a hurt expression plastered onto his face.

"Mike-"

"No, save it. I get that maybe you didn't want to go to prom with me. But you didn't have to lie about it, and really, Edward? You're going to go with this low life?"

"Hey!" Edward and I both said in unison.

Mike shook his head in disgust.

"Man, just because you're fucking jealous doesn't mean you need to be an asshole and go around insulting people and making others feel like shit." Edward said harshly.

Mike walked up to Edward swiftly, stopping right in front of him with his fists and jaw clenched. Without a word, he pulled back his arm and slammed his fist into Edward's face, making Edward's head snap in the direction Mike hit him. Edward laughed sarcastically as he rubbed his jaw and glared at Mike.

"You don't deserve Bella." Mike said lowly, and I saw Edward's eyes darken.

"Edward, don't." I warned, but he shook his head and the next thing I knew, Edward hand launched himself at Mike making both of them fall into the hallway. Fists were flying and I tried desperately to pull Edward off, but it was no use so instead I just shook my head and walked away.


	17. Chapter 17

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"Are you kidding me? After school detention for six weeks, that's absolutely ridiculous!" I yelled at Mr. Franklin, my principle as I looked between him, my parents, Mike who was sitting there smugly and his parents.

"Edward, sit down." My mother hissed as she pulled my back down.

"It's your choice Mr. Cullen, six weeks of after school detention of two weeks of suspension." Mr. Franklin said as he peered over the top of his glasses at him.

"I want to know what Mike's punishment is because I think that whatever he gets, I should get. After all, he did punch me first." I said as I sent a glare his way.

"As true as that may be, you attacked him after the punch."

"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing." I argued.

"That's enough, Edward." My father said sternly.

"No, this is bullshit. Every one of you would have done the exact same thing, even Mike. If I would have punched him first, he would have jumped on me."

"That's enough, Edward. Pick your punishment."

"What's Mike's?" I asked again.

"One week of after school detention."

I could feel my jaw clench and I stood up. My mom grabbed my arm, trying to pull me back down but I shook her grip off of me. "Then I guess that's what I have too, after all it's only fair. I mean, really, if we didn't get equal punishment someone might find that a little suspicious and think that there's some form of favoritism going on and we wouldn't want that."

"You just earned yourself another week." Mr. Franklin said harshly.

"Hell." I said as I threw my arms up in the air. "Why don't you just make it for the rest of the school year?" I said and stormed out of the office, leaving everyone staring at my exit.

I stomped through the hallways, making people move out of my way otherwise I would have shoved them out of the way, as I made my way to my locker. I glared at everyone who was staring at me and stopped at my locker where Emmett, Alice, and Jasper were all waiting for me. I ran my hands through my hair, tugging at the ends as they waited to hear what I had to say.

"My parents are going to fucking kill me." I said as I shook my head as I opened my locker and pulled out my notebook.

"What happened?" Alice asked.

I sighed and told them how I argued with Mr. Franklin. Emmett laughed and high fived me, I returned it even though it didn't feel like that was something to be celebrating and then took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I saw Bella and Rosalie at their locker, talking to Angela and I walked away from my friends without another word.

"Bella, can we talk?" I asked hesitantly as I approached her.

She shook her head and tried to walk away but I followed her, and when we rounded the corner I tugged on her arm, making her turn around and face me. She glared at me for a minute, but her gaze softened once her eyes met mine.

"Can we talk?" I asked again as I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah." She nodded.

I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair again. "Look, I want you to know that I'm not sorry for punching him; he definitely deserved it. Yeah, I did go a little overboard, but I was pissed and he had no right to say anything like that. Oh, and I have after school detention until the day I die, or we graduate, whichever comes first."

Bella smiled softly and wrapped her arms around my waist, letting her head rest on my chest. I quickly wrapped my arms around her too, pulling her close as I rested my head on top of hers.

"I'm not mad at you; I agree that he deserved it. And I get that you were defending me and yourself, but please just promise that that's not how you resolve all your issues." She said into my chest and I laughed lightly.

"Trust me, it's not."

She pulled away and gave me a smile, then got on her tip toes and pecked my lips gently. The warning bell went off and she sighed, breaking out of my grip. "I'll see you later, alright?"

I nodded. "Hey, you're still going to go to prom with me, right?"

She shrugged as she let a playful smile slip onto her lips. "I think you need to ask me again, you know, to make up for the fight."

I laughed and nodded. "Alright."

I jogged to Armstrong's class, making it in the classroom right as the bell rang. After I grabbed my letter off his desk I made my way to my desk, and slid in, sending a brief smile to Emmett. He nodded his head and then pointed to the board, where I saw that the topic was Prom. I groaned and then read Iz's letter before taking out a blank sheet of paper.

I sighed feeling at a complete loss. I couldn't tell Iz that I had gotten into a fight after asking my prom date to prom, by now the whole school knows about the fight and we had to remain anonymous. So after settling on lying a little, I flipped my notebook open and began to write.

_Iz,  
Honestly, I don't even know when Prom is. I'm not that excited about it, but then again, I'm not a girl. I'm sure it'll be fun, just because I'm hanging out with my friends and we always have fun. But, I won't lie, I wouldn't be devastated if I missed it. I guess it's more fun if you're a girl. You get to go buy a huge dress and get your hair fixed and buy new shoes and all that shit. Guys just rent a tux and buy a tie, that's it. And they don't even get to pick the color of the tie, no it has to match the color of the girl's dress. I do plan on having a date though, hopefully. I tried to ask this girl yesterday, but it didn't exactly work out so I'm now planning on how to ask her. I want to ask in a way that I know that she'll like. And I just hope that she doesn't wear a pink dress, otherwise I'm not sure if I can promise that my tie will match. Pink just isn't my color.  
Anthony._

_PS, Seriously, when is Prom?_

**Bella's POV**

_Anthony,  
Prom is May 15, my friend. So you better ask that girl before someone else does. Because that would suck. I understand why you feel like Prom is more exciting for a girl, when you put it like that, it kind of is. I will not lie, I'm super stoked to go Prom dress shopping. And there's hope that your date won't want a pink dress, I don't. I'm hoping to find either a bright yellow or green dress. I really haven't decided yet. I'm leaning towards green though. And ask for shoes, I'll be rocking my Nike Airs because I hate wearing heels. But then again, not every girl is as cool as me. I'm still waiting on the guy I like to ask me. I know he's going to, as weird as that sounds. But I know, and I really can't wait for him to ask.  
Iz._

_PS, Only real men can pull off pink, is that why it's not your color? Just kidding, friend._

Rosalie and I were standing at my locker as I switched books. She would flip through the pages of a Prom magazine and gasp, holding up the picture of a dress and ask me what I would think. She would reply with saying that she wants that dress, and then turn the page, starting the process all over again.

A pair of arms snaked around my waist and a soft kiss was planted on my cheek. I turned around and saw Edward grin at me as his light chocolate colored eyes sparked when they locked on mine.

"Hey, guys." Edward said to me and Rosalie.

"Hey." we both replied.

"How would you feel about skipping your study hall today?" Edward asked as he laced his hand with mine.

"I don't know, Edward."

"Oh come on, Bella. Do it." Rosalie said as she smiled from beside me.

"Yeah, Bella, do it." Edward said and then smirked.

I rolled my eyes but smiled. "Alright, let's get out of here."

I slid on a pair of Edward's sunglasses as he rolled down the windows of his car and we flew down the highway. He turned his Blink-182 cd, singing along to Shut Up loudly. I grinned at him and wiped some hair out of my face, before singing with him. Edward laced his hand with mine as he got off the highway and directed us through the town, and into the mall's parking lot.

"Where to first?" I asked as I swung out locked hands back and forth.

I grinned as I led us through the mall and into Journey's shoe store. Edward smiled at me and I led him over to the girls side and examined some shoes. I pulled a dark purple Vans off the wall and checked the size. Since it was a size six, I tried it on and then looked at Edward.

"What do you think?" I asked as I walked over to the mirror and looked at my feet.

Edward shrugged. "I like them."

"Really?" I asked as I looked at him.

"Really." He said and grinned again.

I smiled and pulled the shoe off, then walked over and put it back in the box, along with the other one. I pulled my wallet out of my hand, but Edward took the shoes and ran to the counter as he pulled out forty dollars to buy them with.

"Edward, no." I whined as I stood at his side.

He covered my mouth with his hand and smiled down at me. "Consider this my makeup gift to you. For being such a douche and not letting it go." He said.

I reached up and traced the dark purple bruise on his jaw, making it tighten under my touch. "Well, the black eye and bruise on your jaw make you look like a total badass, so I don't mind as much." I said as I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

Edward paid for the shoes and then handed me the bag. I slid my hand back into his and we headed over to the food court where we both got pretzels, Edward got a strawberry banana smoothie and I got a chocolate shake and we sat down on a bench across from Aunt Annie's.

"Here, try this." Edward said as he thrust his cup at me.

I took a sip and let a 'Mmm' come up from the back on my throat. "That's good." I said and pushed the cup back to him.

Edward beamed. "Yeah, strawberry banana is the only type of smoothie I like." He said and broke off a piece of his pretzel, popping it into his mouth.

"Have you ever tried any other kind?" I asked with a small smile.

Edward shook his head and took another sip. "No need."

I laughed lightly and rested my head on his shoulder as I sipped my chocolate shake. Edward threw our trash away in the trashcan next to him and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me closer to him. I looked up at him, and saw him staring at me intently.

"What?" I asked softly.

Edward shook his head and sucked in a deep breath. He gave me a soft smile and leaned down, gently pressed his lips to mine. I let my hand run through his hair, looping a small strand around my index finger as I smiled into the kiss. We both pulled away breathless and smiling and Edward rested his forehead on mine.

"I really like you, Bella."

"Well that's good, because I really like you too."

He dipped down and stole another light kiss before pulling back and standing up. He offered me his hand and I quickly laced mine with his again as we left the mall.

"Sorry we have to cut this short, but I have to go to my first detention and you have tennis practice anyway."

"It's alright." I said as we pulled back into the parking lot. The bell hand just rang and people were filing out of the building and all headed for their cars. I leaned over and kissed Edward's cheek before we both got out of his car and walked over to the gym.

"Have fun in detention." I said with a smirk.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Have fun getting all sweaty."

"Try not to think about me too much." I teased.

"That's impossible."


	18. Chapter 18

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

I had been on cloud nine for a week. Knowing that Bella liked me back made everything worth it. The cutting remarks from Angela, glares from Mike,, and afterschool detention. I no longer minded any of it because I knew that Bella liked me. And for once, the good outweighed the bad by a lot.

"Hey man, wanna play some Call of Duty after practice today?" Emmett asked as we both sat down in our desks in Armstrong's class.

"Can't." I said as I shook my head. "I'm gonna ask Bella if she wants to come over."

"Oh." Emmett said and wiggled his eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes. "Not like that, asshole."

"Dude, why not? She's hot."

"Yeah, but still. We're not even officially dating yet."

"Like that's stopped you before."

I sighed and slapped his arm. "She's just different, alright?"

"Okay." Emmett said and put his hands up in surrender. "Whatever you say, man."

For the first time in what seemed like forever, I actually didn't hate the topic of the day. What song is the anthem of your life? I grinned, knowing instantly and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"I think my song is gonna be Whatever You Like." Emmett said and grinned.

I laughed lightly and shook my head at my best friend. "I hope that at the end of all this, we get to meet our pen pals and yours punches you right in the dick."

Emmett shrugged. "Well, it'll be worth it." he said and started writing.

_Iz,  
First of all, I pull of pink better than any other guy in the world, it just so happens that I don't particularly care to wear it. Anyway, as for the song that it the anthem to my life, that would have to be a song by my favorite band. Blink-182, of course. And it's called What's My Age Again? It's like, the anthem to anyone who gets older, but doesn't act like it. I dread the day when I actually have to act like an adult. I'm a firm believer that just because you get older, doesn't mean you have t o act older. Obviously, I'll be mature when the situation calls for it. But I just want to be able to make dick jokes when I'm sixty and it be okay. Know what I mean?  
Anthony_

_PS, if your song is something like No One by Aly & AJ, I might lose all respect for you._

"Bella, Bella Swan!" I yelled as I ran through the hallways.

She closed her locker, and I attacked her in a giant hug, making her back press to the locker as she laughed against my chest and hugged me back. I leaned down and kissed her lips briefly and then laced our hands as I smiled at her.

"I've missed you."

She laughed again and pushed me off of her slightly. "You're so cheesy."

I shrugged and leaned down, reconnecting our lips for a longer kiss. I could feel her smile into it, which made me smile too. And when I pulled away from her, I saw a huge grin plastered on her face.

"What are you doing after tennis today?"

She thought for a minute and then shrugged. "I don't think I'm doing anything."

"Great." I said with a smile. "Wanna come over to my house?"

"Sure." She replied.

"Alright, great. I'll meet you by the gym after you get out of practice and I get out of detention."

"I can't wait."

I leaned down, kissing her a final time. "I can't either."

**Bella's POV**

_Anthony,_

_I respect you wanting to stay young at heart. I think that too many people forget how to have fun whenever they get older, and then that turns them into douche bags. This may come as a surprise for you, but I actually hate Aly & AJ, like can't stand them, so I guess my respect stays intact? Let's hope so. My anthem song isn't about staying young, it's actually about how I don't need people to take care of me. It seems that all my life people have been trying to save me from getting hurt, my parents, my friends. And even though I appreciate it, I really don't need it. The song's called Let Me Fall and it's by Edwardz Johnson. And the first time I heard it, I thought that she somehow knew me and wrote this song for me, that's how much I can relate to it.  
Iz._

_PS, "Let me rise, let me fall. Let me breathe, I wanna lose control I'm not afraid to lose it all. Let me break, let me crawl. Cause I will get up again, if you let me fall." Just incase you don't know the song._

All day I was nervous about going over to Edward's house. I was nervous about possibly meeting his parents, and equally as nervous about possibly being alone with just him. I wasn't sure which would be easier, but for the first time ever I didn't mind tennis practice going a little over.

At five o'clock, I emerged from the locker room seeing Edward sitting on a bench, typing something on his phone. He looked over at me when I came out and stood up, pulling me into him and kissing my lips gently. Something that still leaves me breathless.

"Ready?" he asked.

"I am." I said ad I pulled my tennis bag on my shoulder and laced my hand with his.

Just as I thought, Blink filled my ears as soon as Edward started the car. His face reddened slightly at the volume, and he apologized and turned it down a little. We drove in mostly silence, only talking about my tennis practice and how boring detention was. Both of us nervous about being at his house.

"Shit." He sighed when we pulled in. "My parents are home."

"Is that a problem?" I asked slowly.

Edward looked up at his house for a minute and then slowly shook his head. "No, it'll be fine. But, just don't get offended if they're not nice to you. They're different now, and not really friendly to anyone." He said quietly and then we both got out of the car.

We walked in and to our right was the living room, where an older looking version of Edward, that I knew was his dad sat in slacks and a button down shirt watching the news. And to our left was the kitchen where his mother sat reading a book.

"Edward." His mother said in a thick British accent and Edward sighed as he pulled me into the kitchen. His mom upped her eyebrows looking between both of us.

"Mom, this is Bella. Bella this is my mom." Edward said lamely.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet the girl that's responsible for my son getting seven weeks of after school detention for. You must really be something else." She said smugly.

My face heated up and I dropped my head, not knowing how to respond. Edward squeezed my hand and lightly rubbed his thumb over my skin, in an attempt to comfort me.

"Yeah, well." He stuttered. "We're just gonna be in my room." He said and pulled me towards the stairs.

"Leave the door open, Edward." She said sternly.

"Yes, mom." He said exasperated.

When we got into Edward's room, he closed the door behind us softly and put his finger to his lips to motion for me to be quiet. I took the moment to take in the clothes strewn over the floor, and band poster hanging all over his walls; so many that you could barely see the dark blue walls.

Edward plopped down on his bed, pulling out to Guitar Hero guitars. He handed me one, and then scooted over to allow me to sit down next to him as he flipped on his tv and Playstation 3.

"I'm really sorry about my mom." He said as he flipped through the songs.

"Don't worry about it." I said with a sigh. "I'm sure that if I was her, I wouldn't want to meet me either. After all, she's right. You did get detention because of me."

"No." Edward said firmly and shook his head. "I got detention because that Mike's an asshole."

I smiled and kissed his cheek. "Well either way, I get that your parents don't like me."

Edward leaned in and let his forehead fall against mine. His warm breath tickled my face and caused a smile to spread onto my lips. He was waiting for something, a sign of some sort so I leaned closer to close the gap between us and connected our lips. Edward pulled me onto his lap, letting our guitars fall to the floor, and I wrapped an arm around his neck and the other ran through his hair as our lips continued to move together.

Edward pulled away quickly and moved me off of him. His eyes darted to the door as we sat in silence and he finally sighed. "I thought I heard footsteps." He said quietly.

I giggled lightly and kissed his cheek. "Don't you have band practice tonight?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but not until eight."

"Why so late?"

"Well usually it's right after school, or now, after I get out of detention before my parents get home. But I wanted to be able to hang out with you, so we moved it to eight because every Thursday night at 7:30 my parents go out to eat with some of their friends."

"Do they not like band practice?"

"No." he scoffed. "They both think it's the biggest waste of time."

I frowned, noticing how upset Edward was when he said that. He shook his head again and sighed, clearly annoyed that his parents didn't support him. I let one of my hands press to his cheek and turn his head so that he would look at me. I beamed up at him and eventually he smiled back.

"Well I think that you're great." I said and kissed his lips.

"You don't know how much that means to me."

"Edward Anthony, I do believe I said to leave this door open." His mother said sternly as she swung the door open and we jumped apart. She let her eyes set on me for a second. "I guess I know understand why you fought for her." she said harshly and tuned on her heel.

"By the way, Emmett's here." She called and then slammed the front door.

"I'm so sorry." Edward said again as he buried his head in my neck, kissing the skin lightly.

I shook my head and gave him a faint smile. "Don't worry about it, Edward."

"Just promise me that you won't let her run you off."

I leaned in and kissed him briefly. "After what we've been though already, there's no way I'm gonna let your mom stand between us."


	19. Chapter 19

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

Something we miss is the topic of the day today. Why does it seem like every topic is fit for me to write about my brother? I sighed and shook my head, refusing to let myself fall into a bad mood. Today was going to be a good day; a great day if everything works out the way that I hope it does.

_Is,  
The most important thing I miss if my brother. He was such a cool guy; always giving me advice and helping get me out of trouble with my parents. He could come up with an excuse on why I was coming home five hours after curfew right off the top of his head, and it was always believable. I can't tell you how many times he saved me from getting grounded. Another thing that I miss is my very first guitar. Well, playing my very first guitar to be exact. My brother bought it for me when I turned eight, and up until two years ago I had played it daily. Then one day a friend of mine and I were goofing off and he somehow fell on top of it, breaking it completely. It's beyond fixing, but I still have the remains because I can't throw it away, I just can't.  
Anthony._

_PS, Usually when I talk about my brother, it upsets me. But for some reason I don't mind talking about him to you._

"So, are you ready for today?" Emmett asked as he grinned.

I nodded my head, feeling slightly nervous. "Yeah, I just hope it goes as smoothly as I think it will."

"What if Mike jumps you again?" Jasper asked as he chuckled lightly.

I shrugged. "Then I guess I'll kick his ass again, and then get kicked out of school or something. I already have after school detention until the end of time."

"Edward, I think what you're doing is romantic." Alice said and gave me a warm smile.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Bella asked as she appeared by my side and slid her hand into mine. I grinned at her and we shared a brief kiss.

"Nothing that concerns you." I teased as I gave her a playful smile.

She gasped dramatically and smacked my arm. "What a jerk." She said and laughed lightly.

"Well, actually-" Emmett started.

"How about I walk you to class now?" I said and pulled Bella away before Emmett could say anything further. I walked her to her trig class just like I had been doing for weeks and kissed her goodbye, then ran to P.E. to meet up with Emmett, Alice, and Jasper.

When lunch finally rolled around I pulled my dark blue button down shirt, black vest, and tie and went into the men's bathroom. I pulled off my Blink-182 tshirt, trading it for the dark blue shirt, then buttoned it and tucked it in. After putting the vest and tie on I left the bathroom to see Emmett waiting at my locker. He grinned at me and handed me my two Prom tickets, then patted my back and walked with me to the cafeteria.

I saw Bella sitting at her regular table with Rosalie, Angela, Mike, and three other people that I didn't know. Bella wasn't paying attention to anything because she had her head buried in her World History book, glaring down at it with a hateful and confused look on her face. Rosalie saw me approaching and she smacked Bella's arm and then nodded in my direction.

"My, my, don't you just look handsome." Bella said with a smirk as she looked me up and down.

"I clean up good, I know." I smirked back.

"You sure do." She grinned. "What are you doing?"

"Well," I started as I rocked back and forth on my heels and then dropped to one knee, pulling the Prom tickets out of my back pocket and taking one of Bella's hands into mine. "I was wondering, Bella, if you would like to go to Prom with me?" I said and then gave her a warm smile.

Bella grinned widely, showing off her teeth and then pulled me into a tight hug. She pulled back a little and pressed her lips to mine, and before I closed my eyes I saw Mike get up and storm away from the table.

"When I said you had to ask me again, I didn't mean it had to be all fancy, but thank you and of course I'll go with you." She said and pecked my lips. "There's no one else I'd rather go with."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Bella. Because I wasn't going to go if I couldn't go with you."

**Bella's POV**

"Oh my gosh, Edward is the cutest thing ever!" Rosalie gushed as she hugged me. "Like, really. You are so lucky that he likes you."

I grinned back at her. "I know, I really am." I replied as we both sat down in Armstrong's class.

"How was hanging out at his house yesterday?"

"It was good. His mom hates me, and bitched him out for closing his bedroom door after she told him not to. But other than that, it was great. We just played some Guitar Hero and hung out. Then Emmett, Jasper, and Marcus came over for band practice while his parents were gone."

"You two are just adorable together." Rosalie gushed again.

I blushed and smiled as I opened Anthony's letter and began to read. As I read through the letter I couldn't stop thinking about how similar Anthony and Edward sounded. Then I remembered his mom calling him Edward Anthony and I got a crazy idea.

What if Edward is Anthony?

"Rosalie!" I hissed and smacked her arm. "Rosalie, you're not going to believe this!" I squealed as I slid my desk closer to hers.

"Ow, Bella." She said as she rubbed her arm. "What?"

"I think Edward is my pen pal." I blurted out and then bounced up and down in excitement.

Rosalie laughed. "Okay, first of all how funny and cool would that be? But why?"

"They just sound the same, and Edward's middle name is Anthony. So what if he's just using his middle name as his penname? That seems like an Edward thing to do, right?"

Rosalie sighed. "Bella, are you sure that you're not just making connections between the two because you want Anthony to be Edward?"

I sighed, not thinking of that and let my shoulders slump. "I don't know."

"Well why don't you ask Anthony something weird that you know about Edward?"

I beamed at her and then slid my desk back to where it belongs. "You're a genius, Rose!"

She shrugged and brushed the imaginary dust off her shoulders. "That's what they tell me."

_Anthony,  
I would like to start out by saying that I'm glad that you feel comfortable talking about your brother to me. You're still the only person who knows that my parents got a divorce, and you're the only one I talk to about it. That's actually what I miss most; my family being together. All of us getting along and living under one roof. Being a whole family instead of split into two. It's the little things that matter most. I still have a family portrait of the four of us next to bed. It's the last thing I see at night before I fall asleep. I completely understand why you can't throw away your broken guitar, it's like the last thing you have that you can hold in your hands that reminds you of him. It's the same as me not being able to move that picture from my nightstand. I refuse to let go, or to forget. On a very less serious note, and slightly random. My friend and I are going to the mall tomorrow because she thinks it's ridiculous that I've never had a smoothie before. What flavor do you recommend?  
Is._

_PS, I also really miss Rocket Power. Greatest tv show ever._

I smiled as I folded the letter and wrote Anthony's name across the front in my loopy cursive writing. Nervousness ran through me, and I grinned over at Rosalie. The thought of tomorrow made me anxious, and it couldn't come fast enough.

* * *

**Dun, dun, dunnnnnnn...**


	20. Chapter 20

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

As I read through Iz's letter I couldn't help but have the corners of my lips twitch upward into a smile. I had been dying to know who she really is since her first letter, and this was finally my chance to know. I reached over, slapping Emmett's arm to get his attention. He grumbled and rubbed his arm but turned to me anyway.

"Is there a reason why you're abusing me?"

I rolled my eyes and put the letter in his hands. "Wanna go to the mall after school?" I asked, still smiling.

"So you can stalk your pen pal?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"No." I shook my head. "So I'll finally know who she is."

Emmett shrugged. "Yeah, why not?" he replied and handed me back Iz's letter.

Armstrong had gone back to sucky topics, today's being "If you could rid the world of one thing, what would it be?" with "Be serious" written right underneath.

"What do you want to rid the world of, Emmett?"

"Sexually transmitted diseases. Then you can have as much sex as you want without condoms." He said as he grinned and nodded his head.

I laughed quietly, shaking my head at my best friend and pulled out my piece of paper. I could feel excitement fill me as I began to write. I couldn't wait for the final bell to ring, because I wanted to know who my pen pal was. And hopefully, I would find out today.

_Iz,  
First and most importantly, how the hell have you never had a smoothie? I get one every time I go to the mall. Banana strawberry, to be exact; they're my favorite. Try that one because I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed. Maybe you'll get hooked on them the same way I am. I wouldn't doubt it; they'll change your life. Now, since Armstrong decided that we have to be serious about this, I guess I would rid the world of hunger. Like, I'm always hungry and I get really crabby when I can't eat. So I really can't imagine not being able to eat when I'm hungry. Honestly, it makes me a little sad to think that there's some people out there who only get to eat every other day. Nobody should have to live like that. Yeah, that's right. I was just deep.  
Anthony._

_PS, If you don't like banana strawberry smoothies, we can't be friends._

"Edward, you're such a creeper!" Alice exclaimed when I told her and Jasper why Emmett and I were doing after school.

"Told you it was weird." Emmett said.

I rolled my eyes. "Man, whatever. I really wanna know who she is." I said and looked at Jasper for help.

"Man, don't look at me." he said as he put his hands up. "I think it's weird too."

"Hey, Edward." Bella said as she walked up, flanked by Rosalie, and kissed my cheek.

"Hey." I said smoothly and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"If you douche bags will excuse me, I'm gonna walk Bella to class." I said and pulled her away before any of them had a chance to reply.

"So do you have plans after school?" She asked, making my heart sink.

"Yeah, Emmett and I are going to the mall. Why?"

"Skipping detention?" she asked with a smirk as she upped her eyebrows.

I shrugged. "It's for a good cause."

She laughed lightly. "I'm sure. And I'm asking because I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out since I don't have tennis."

"I'd say that I could ditch Emmett to hang out with you, but we've had this planned for like, two weeks. But the mall shouldn't take long, I'll call you when we're done and we can hang out then."

"Sounds good." She said and kissed my lips lightly and then slipped into her classroom.

She never ceased at taking my breath away.

**Bella's POV**

"My plan is ruined, Rosalie." I said sadly as I took my seat in Armstrong's class.

"What are you talking about?"

I sighed. "I asked Anthony what his favorite flavor smoothie is because Edward raved about how great strawberry banana is and how it's the only one that he likes. Then said that I was going to the mall with my friend today after school. So I was gonna make you go with me to see if Edward showed up to watch for someone from Forks High to order a smoothie." I explained. "But I just talked to Edward and him and Emmett already has plans to go to the mall after school, has for awhile. So even if we saw him there, it wouldn't mean anything."

"Aw." Rosalie said, sounding as sad as I felt. "I'm sorry, Bella."

I shrugged. "It's probably not him anyway." I said, now feeling discouraged.

"You never know." Rosalie said, trying to sound optimistic.

I gave her a weak smile as I opened Anthony's envelope and pulled the letter out. Even as I read how much he likes strawberry banana smoothies, I couldn't help but feel like I had been wrong and Rosalie was right. Maybe I'm just making connections because I want Anthony to be Edward.

_Anthony,  
I must say that I'm impressed with you. That was very deep, and kind of cute. It's weird having to take a topic seriously, since we usually don't. But I guess this is one that should be taken seriously. It was nice of Armstrong to point that out. I think I would rid the world of the small minded ability to only see skin deep. I find it sad that people judge off skin pigment and rate them off how pretty they are. I feel like there's more average, or less attractive people then there is attractive people, so the pretty ones get praised, thus sometimes resulting in getting big headed. And everyone else feels inferior to them. I guess I just feel like it should be impossible to insult someone based off of their appearance. And thanks for the advise, I'll definitely have to go with strawberry banana.  
Iz._

_PS, there's a high possibility that we shall remain friends, since I happen to love both strawberries and bananas._

"So what's the verdict?" Rosalie asked excitedly as I stuffed Anthony's letter into the envelope.

"I think you were right, Rosalie. I think I just want Anthony to be Edward because it would be incredibly awesome, and so ironic that it would be funny."

Rosalie frowned. "Well, maybe it is him."

"Yeah," I said unconvinced. "Maybe."

"Can we hang out at my house tonight?" I basically pleaded to Edward. "I don't know if I can stand your mom glaring at me again."

Edward chuckled and kissed the top of my head after he slung an arm over my shoulders and pulled me into his tightly. "Yeah. At least we'll be allowed to be in your room with the door closed."

"Unless your mother knows you're at my house." I grumbled making Edward laugh out loud.

"I'll just tell her that I'm going over to Emmett's after the mall." He said.

I wrapped my arms around his torso, letting my head rest on his chest as he continued to walk through the halls. People were staring, but I had grown accustom to that and it no longer bothered me. I closed my eyes briefly and sighed, wishing that I didn't have to let go when we reached my car.

"So I'll see you around four?" He asked as we stopped and I dug my car keys out of my backpack.

I nodded and Edward pulled me back into him, giving me a crooked grin that made my heart melt. He pressed his lips against mine, tangling a hand in my long blonde hair as I rested my hands on his shoulders and smiled into the kiss.

"I don't want to leave you." He said softly after detaching his lips from mine.

I smiled and pushed him off, even though I felt the same way. "Go. The faster you get there, the faster we can hang out. And, my mom is taking Nessie to her ballet lesson at four, so we'll have my house to ourselves until around 5:30."

"Oh." Edward said and wiggled his eyebrows. "Then I guess I better get going."

I laughed at him and he pulled me in for a final heart stopped kiss that made me go weak at the knees. We parted and he ran to the other side of his car and jumped in, waving to me as he started it and peeled out of the parking lot.

He never ceased at taking my breath away.


	21. Chapter 21

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

"Man, are you still upset that you couldn't figure out who your pen pal is?" Emmett asked as we both sat down in our first our class.

"No." I grumbled as I tore Iz's letter open.

Emmett and I had sat outside the Smoothie Hut at the mall for two hours after school yesterday. There were six girls from Forks High who stopped there, only two of which were seniors, and I was sure that they weren't Iz. I was really disappointed and all Emmett was doing was making it worse.

"Hey look, the topic is to confess something. Maybe you should confess to Iz that you want to know who she is so bad, that you tried to stalk her." Emmett said with a smirk.

I flipped him off and took out a fresh sheet of paper. My foot bounced up and down as I tapped my pencil on my desk, getting a dirty glare shot my way from Shelby. Emmett was writing with a smirk on his face, and I was sure that I didn't want to know what he was writing to his pen pal today. I sighed heavily as I felt myself slip even further into a bad mood and closed my eyes for a minute.

_Iz,  
Since my best friend seems to be pissing me off today, without even meaning to, I decided that my confession will have something to do with him. He and I went to a party last year; a Halloween party to be exact, at one of our friend's house. The night was filled with drinking, as you probably could have guessed and by the time the party was over, neither of us was in any condition to be driving. So we stayed in the guest room. I took the bed and I made my friend sleep on the ground. And somewhere in the middle of the night, I rolled over and threw up on him. I didn't want him to know that it was me, so I got up and tried to walk home. But I somehow ended up just sleeping the remainder of the night on his porch.  
Anthony._

_PS, he still doesn't know that it was me who threw up on him._

"Hey, you." Bella said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in for a quick kiss. My arm went to her waist, keeping in pressed to my side as Alice beamed at the two of us.

"You guys really are adorable." Alice said.

I grinned and looked down at Bella who had locked her arms around my waist and was grinning back up at me. I leaned down to capture her lips in a simple kiss and she giggled lightly.

"The four of us should do something today after school." Jasper said as he wrapped his arm around Alice.

"Yeah!" Alice said excitedly as she clapped her hands together and grinned widely.

"Bella?"

"Well, I'm going Prom dress shopping with Rose and Angela after school." She said and bit her lips.

I sighed. "You're always busy." I pouted. "And never with me."

Her mouth dropped open and she gasped. "That is so not true." She said and laughed when I stuck my tongue out at her.

"I know, but it just seems like the only time we get to see each other is at school." I said as I jutted my bottom lip out.

The bell rang and we said goodbye to Jasper and Alice. Bella laced our hands as we started walking through the halls. She looked up at me with a smirk on her face as she tugged on my hand to follow her down the hallway that was opposite of her classroom.

"Where are we going?" I asked confused.

Bella smirked as she got on her tiptoes and connected our lips once more. When we parted I noticed we were standing outside on the janitor's closet and I upped my eyebrows at her. She blushed lightly and opened the door, pulling me inside, letting her purse and books fall to the floor and wrap her arms around my neck.

"This is new." I said between kissed. "I believe I'm starting to wear off on you."

"Don't take all the credit, Edward. I can be bad too." she said as she grinned. "Now kiss me."

I laughed lightly and pulled her in closer. "Yes, ma'am."

**Bella's POV**

_Anthony,  
That's probably the grossest thing I have ever heard, but it's also really funny. And it's times like these, when your friend pisses you off, that you look back and go "Yeah, I don't regret throwing up on you at all." My confession is nothing like yours; it's actually pretty lame. But to be able to understand, you have to know that I used to be this super good student. I always studied and got good grades. As the years went on, I've started to care less. But when I was a freshman I took pride in getting good grades. This one time though, I forgot to study for a test so I definitely just skipped the class and hung out in the gym. None of the pe teachers knew that I wasn't really in the class. It was kind of exciting.  
Iz_

_PS, I've never told anyone that before._

"Hey, Bella." Alice said as she popped up beside me at my locker.

"Oh, hey Alice." I said smiling at her as I threw my books in my locker.

"I was kind of wondering." She started and bit her lip. "Well you see, I don't really have a lot of girl friends, and Jasper refuses to go dress shopping with me-"

I held my hand up and she stopped talking. "Say no more, you can come with us." I said as I linked my arm with hers and led her out to my car.

"Thanks, Bella. I really appreciate it, and trust me. So does Jasper."

We laughed as we walked up to my car seeing Edward, Jasper, Rosalie, and Angela all standing by it. Alice and I let our arms drop as she kissed Jasper and I greeted Edward with a light kiss.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with?" I asked as I smiled at him.

"Positive. Jasper and I have manly things to do." He said as he tried to flex his muscles.

I laughed and kissed him and said goodbye to him and Jasper. Angela glared at Alice as I unlocked my car and then slid in the back, rolling her eyes at me. Alice flipped through my mixed cd as me, her, and Rosalie all talked about what kind of dresses we wanted. Angela remained quiet, glaring at the back on Alice's head, and I knew she was going to cause unnecessary drama.

When we finally reached the dress shop we all got out of the car. Angela purposely bumped into Alice and then scoffed, going around her and into the store. I gave Alice a reassuring smile and Rosalie and I both linked arms with her and walked inside.

"Rose, come look at this dress!" Angela said as she held up a poofy yellow one. Rosalie sighed and rolled her eyes, but obliged.

"Why does Angela hate me?" Alice asked as we looked through the rack of dresses.

I sighed. "She hates everyone besides me, Rosalie, and Mike."

"But I never did anything to her." she said with a frown.

"Don't take it personally, Alice. I know it's hard, but just ignore her. Don't let her take all the fun out of this for you! We're here to have fun and find amazing dresses."

"You're right." She said with a smile and pulled a hot pink dress off the rack, holding it up to her body and turning to me. "What do you think?"

"I love it!" I gushed as I clung my lime green dress to my body.

"Let's go try them on." she said excitedly and pulled me over to the dressing room.

"Like, really, first Edward, and now her? Before long she's going to try to make us hang out with them, and that's where I draw the line. And she could have at least given us a heads up that she was going to be bringing her along." Angela said in a snotty voice in a dressing room.

"You're being stupid; Alice's really nice."

"Whatever. I'm telling you, Rosalie. Bella's going to push this until I finally have to say it's our friendship, or a relationship with Edward and his friends."

I could feel my blood boil as I listened to Angela go on and on. Eventually Rosalie came out and hugged Alice, along with me. I pulled them both up to the register and we paid for our dresses. Alice frowned and blinked back tears and I hugged her again.

"Alright, let's get out of here." I said as I grabbed my dress.

"What about Angela?" Rosalie asked as we spotted her just now coming out of the dressing room.

I shrugged. "What about her?" I said as the three of us walked out of the store and put our dresses in the trunk. Angela watched me start my car and she ran outside right as I backed out of the parking space. I had Alice pass up Angela's backpack and purse.

"Bella, are you fucking kidding me?" she yelled as I threw her stuff out of the car at her.

"Angela, I'd choose my relationship with Edward and his friends over our friendship any day." I said and sped away, leaving her stranded at the dress shop an hour outside of town.

I watched Alice flip her off and then laughed loudly. "Thank you so much for that!" she said and hugged me tightly.

"Yeah, Bella, that was by far, the greatest thing you've ever done."

I grinned at them and laughed too, feeling very proud of myself.

Maybe Edward really was rubbing off on me.


	22. Chapter 22

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

Topic of the day: How do you feel about love?

Emmett scoffed next to me and I turned and looked at him, seeing him shake his head as he pulled out a sheet of paper and started writing to his pen pal. I took my time, rereading Iz's letter again to put off having to write. Love isn't exactly a guy's favorite thing to talk about. I smiled lightly remembering that I had the coolest pen pal ever and then started writing.

_Iz,  
I guess I always knew that is such a thing as love since my parents have been happily married for quite some time and you can tell that they're in love. But for me, I wasn't really sure if I would ever find it. I've never really seen myself as a relationship kind of guy; I was more into one night stands. I'm not sure why, but I just could never picture myself being with the same girl for years and year. But then I met this girl and she's made me rethink everything. She's absolutely amazing and she makes me feel different than any other girl ever has. I mean she makes me nervous, which has never happened before, she gives me butterflies, I can't stop smiling when I'm around her, and every time we kiss it seems like it's better than the last one. So I guess it's safe to say that I do believe in love.  
Anthony_

_PS, I hope that you have or find someone who makes you feel like that._

"Dude, can you believe that Prom is tomorrow?" Emmett asked as we walked to our lockers.

I grinned as I remembered that Bella's my date and nodded my head. "Yeah, school is flying by. After Prom we only have a month left and then we're so out of here."

Emmett and I slapped high fives and I felt a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. I turned around seeing Bella grin up at me as she bit her lip.

"Hey there, gorgeous." I said as I leaned down and pressed my lips onto hers.

"Hi." She said as she giggled and laced our hands together. "Are you guys still coming to my match after school?" she asked as she looked between me and Emmett.

"Hell yeah! We're gonna cheer you on." Emmett said as he smiled brightly and Bella laughed.

"As long as you do it quietly. People get pissy if you're too loud and then they'll probably kick you out if they think that you're a distraction."

Emmett sighed heavily and shook his head. "We're so going to get kicked out."

I nodded in agreement and Bella laughed again. "It'll still be fun." I said and pecked her lips. "Wanna go out to eat afterwards?"

"Yeah that sounds fun."

Emmett cough loudly from beside us and I rolled my eyes. "You can come too, Emmett."I said and he punched the air in victory. "Why don't you invite Rosalie?"

"I think I will." She said and swung our locked hands back and forth.

"So Bella, excited for tomorrow?" Emmett asked and Bella's eyes lit up as her smile grew.

"I am so excited. We're going to have so much fun and you guys finally get to see my super cool dress and we get to ride in a limo. It's going to be awesome." She gushed and I laughed lightly.

"You're going to look beautiful." I said and she blushed.

"And that's my cue to leave. You guys are gonna get all mushy." Emmett said as he high fived both of us and walked away to find Jasper and Alice.

"I think he was implying that we're gross when we get mushy." Bella said as she faked hurt.

I laughed and slung my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into me and kissing the top of her head as we started walking down the hallway. "He's just jealous because he doesn't have a girl to compliment."

Bella grinned and pecked my lips. "I'll see you after school."

"Later." I said and clamped my mouth shut before three small words fell out.

_I love you._

**Bella's POV**

_Anthony,  
I had believed in love ever since I saw Sleeping Beauty for the first time when I was five. Girl movies and those mushy love books consumed my life because as I read or watched them I couldn't help but wish that something like it would happen to me one day. But when my parents got a divorce I began to rethink everything. They had always seemed so happy and in love and then all of a sudden they weren't. It made me feel that love is just a feeling, one that can disappear faster than a blink of the eye and I couldn't help but feel foolish for believing that it existed. However, like you, I've found someone who's made me feel like I was right all along. He's the sweetest boy in the world and I could see myself with him for the rest of my life. He cares about me, listens to me, can always make me smile, give me goose bumps, and make my heart speed up just by walking into the room. It's the greatest feeling in the world.  
Iz._

_PS, we're very lucky people._

I grinned as I watched Edward and Emmett take their seats in the bleachers, both with a soda and a hot dog in their hands. When they spotted me they waved as they yelled my name and I laughed and waved back, then went back to getting ready.

Soon enough I was on the court against a girl from La Push. I served the ball and she made no attempt to hit it back, giving me a point. Edward and Emmett cheered and I laughed and then put my finger to my lips, telling them to be quiet as I picked up another tennis ball.

I served the ball again and she hit it back this time. We went back and forth a few times and eventually I ended up with another point. Edward jumped up and punched the air as he yelled for me.

"Way to go, Bella!" Emmett yelled and I laughed again.

I watched as Mr. Paumenter, my coach, walked over them and told them that they had to be quiet. They both nodded their heads and he walked away. Emmett flipped him off and Edward laughed. I threw the ball up and served it and the girl hit it back, making it land just outside the foul line but the ref gave her the point.

"What, that's totally Bella's point!" Edward yelled as he jumped up.

My eyes bulged as he yelled to the ref and finally Mr. Paumenter and our other coach told Emmett and Edward that they had to leave because there were several complaints about how loud they were being. They both rolled their eyes and yelled good luck to me as they walked off the bleachers and were out of sight.

"Well," I said as I walked up to Edward's car with Rosalie next to me. "You guys lasted longer than I thought you would."

Edward and Emmett both rolled their eyes. "We were being quiet. Those people are just sensitive." Emmett said.

"Yeah and besides, that was totally your point." Edward said.

I laughed and kissed his cheek as all of us got in the car and headed towards the Applebees that was just up the street. "It's alright, I won anyway."

"That's my girl." Edward said with a smile and kissed my cheek.

When we got into the restaurant I slid in the booth next to Edward and Rosalie and Emmett sat across from us. Emmett brought up Prom again and Rosalie squealed out of excitement.

"Tomorrow is going to be so great." She said as she clapped her hands together.

I rested my head on Edward's shoulder and he grinned down at me as he slid his arm around my waist and rubbed my side gently. "It's going to be fucking awesome." He said and then kissed my forehead.

Emmett raised his glass in the air. "Here's to tomorrow being the best night ever." He said and we all toasted to it.

Excitement filled me as I looked up at Edward's smiling face. I couldn't wait until tomorrow because I knew that it was going to end up being one of the best nights of my life. And I couldn't wait to spend the night dancing with Edward.


	23. Chapter 23

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

My leg bounced nervously the entire limo ride from my house to Bella's. I was nervous about seeing her, tonight in general, and whether my mom would make nasty remarks about her in front of everyone – including Bella's parents. But all of my nervousness left when my eyes landed on her walking out of her front door.

My breath got stuck in my throat as my eyes started at the bottom of her dress and worked their way up, taking in the bright lime green color, all of the sequins, her milky skin, beautiful smile, excited eyes, and the hair curled in around her face. I was in a trance and it took Emmett nudging me in the side to break me out of it.

I walked up to her and placed my hands on her hips, pulling her close and kissing her lips passionately. She giggled as she rested her hands on my chest and I heard a camera go off. When we separated I let my forehead rest against hers, grinning as widely as she was.

"You look incredible." I said softly.

"You're looking pretty good yourself." She said and pecked my lips again.

I took her hand in mine and let her mom place us in front of the tree in the front yard so her and my mom could get pictures of us. My cheeks were hurting from smiling so much as we took pictures together, with our parents, with my friends, and then again when Bella's friends showed up in their limo.

Angela and Mike both glared at me when Bella's mom suggested that the four of us get a picture together. We stood together and I couldn't help but swoop down and kiss Bella's cheek right when they started taking pictures, making her laugh loudly.

Rosalie walked up to us with a frown on her face and Bella slung an arm around her shoulders, hugging her tightly as Rosalie rested her head on Bella's shoulder.

"Rosie, there's no frowning on Prom!" Emmett exclaimed as he grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly.

"Shush Emmett." Bella said as she pulled her out of Emmett's grip. "Her date's a no show." She said sadly.

"Well that's his loss." I said giving her a smile.

"Well," Emmett said with a smile. "If you'd like. I don't have a date either, so I could be yours. It's a win win situation, at least I think so."

Rosalie grinned widely. "I'd like that, Emmett. Thanks." She said and Emmett grinned as he wrapped an arm around her waist and yelled at his mom that she needed to get pictures of him with his Prom date.

I stood behind Bella and wrapped my arms around her waist, letting my head sit on her shoulder as we watching everyone taking last minute pictures and say goodbye to their parents. I kissed her cheek gently and she smiled over at me, leaning back into me and sighing from contentment before we all crowded into the limo.

"Can we please dance all night?" Bella asked as we walked into the hall where the dance is held.

Fergie started pouring out of the speakers and I just smirked as I clasped her hand in mine and pulled her to the middle of the dance floor. I placed my hands on her hips and hers were rested on my shoulders as we danced to the music, quickly surrounded by Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice.

"Are you having a good time?" I asked her and she smiled and pressed her lips to mine.

"I'm having a great time."

"Good, and just think. This is only the beginning."

She locked her arms around my neck and pulled me to so she could crash her lips onto mine. I held her there for a moment, savoring the moment and pulled away, still smiling.

No girl has ever had this effect on me before.

**Bella's POV**

So far, Prom has been everything I thought it would be and more. I had the most amazing date and came with my best friends who were all also having a fantastic time. Edward reached over and took my hand in his, making chills shoot through my body as we sat down at a table and sipped our water.

"Alright." Mr. Franklin said as he walked out on the stage. "It's now time to announce your Prom King and Queen." He said as he opened the envelope in his hands. "Mike Newton." He said making Edward scoffed from beside me. "And Bella Swan!" he yelled and my mouth dropped open.

Edward cheered from beside me and pulled me in for a quick kiss before I got up and walked up on stage to have the tiara placed on my head and Mike grab my hand and pull me into the middle of the dance floor for our dance. He placed his hands on my waist and I let mine fall on his shoulders as we swayed together to Back to Me by the All-American Rejects. I caught Edward's eyes and he glared at Mike, making me laugh lightly.

"So how's your night been?" Mike asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"It's been amazing. How's yours been?"

He nodded and smiled. "It's been really great."

"I'm glad."

"Bella," he said and cleared his throat. "Look, I'm sorry about everything that's been going on. I was being ridiculous. You like me as a friend, and I respect that, and that you like Cullen." He said with difficulty. "I want us to be friends again."

I grinned up at him. "I want that too."

The song came to an end and he pulled me into a tight hug as our entire class clapped for us. He grinned at me and messed my hair up slightly before nodding over at Edward and then walking away.

"So what was that whole thing with Mike?" Alice asked in the limo.

"Yeah, it was really weird how he didn't glare at Edward." Emmett said.

I shrugged. "We worked it out and he's fine with everything." I said as I wrapped Edward's tux jacket around my body and leaned my head onto his chest. My eyes scanned over everyone and I could see Rosalie and Emmett's hands laced, making me smile and nudge Edward to show him.

The limo dropped Edward and I off at my house and he followed me inside of my dark house and up to my room. I pulled my long blonde hair into a pony tail and stood with my back to Edward.

"Will you help me?" I asked.

"Absolutely." He said in a way that I knew that he was smirking and I rolled my eyes as his hands came in contact with my skin, sending shivers down my spine. He unclipped the straps of my dress slowly and I held onto the front of it, making sure that it wouldn't fall down. Edward looped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him until my back was pressed against him and he kissed my bare shoulder.

I could feel butterflies going crazy and my stomach start to knot with Edward must be thinking. I bit my button lip as he kissed up my neck and debated in my mind whether or not I wanted my night to be a "classic prom night" but before I could make up my mind, Edward released me.

I turned around and he gave me a weak smile. "I know you're not ready." He said simply as he shrugged his shoulders.

"How?"

"You were way tense." He said and smiled lightly at me.

"Is that okay?" I asked as I bit my lip.

Edward grinned as he took a step forward and cupped my face in his hands. He guided my face to his and kissed my lips lightly. "Of course it's okay." He said and kissed my lips again. "Now hurry up, we gotta change and get over to Alice's. Don't want to party to start without us." He said with a smile and moved to leave my room, but I grabbed his hand, making him turn back around.

"Thanks for being amazing." I said softly, making a warm smile take over his lips.

"No, Bella." He said as he shook his head, still with the smile on his lips. "Thank you for being amazing."

* * *

_**Picture of Dresses are on the link on my profile.**_

_**Review!**_


	24. Chapter 24

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

Topic of the day: How was Prom?

I smiled as I closed my eyes and let all of the great memories refill my mind. Bella's face popped in my head, making my body tingle and my smile to grow. I quickly pulled out a sheet of paper and pencil and began writing, anxious to share my Prom experience with Iz.

_Iz,  
I had always been skeptical when I heard someone say that Prom was one of the best nights of their lives, but I will never doubt another person now. It was seriously the greatest day of my life, so far. My date was absolutely beautiful and we had an amazing time. I'm pretty sure we danced to every single song and it was great. I can now officially say that I'm in love with her, so really the only thing that could have made my night better is if I would have grown a pair and finally asked her to be my girlfriend. Things are just going to great now that I don't want to jeopardize that. But on the other hand, I've never felt this way about a girl before and I definitely don't want to let her slip through my fingers. So I guess I better fix this soon.  
Anthony_

_PS, I hope your Prom experience was as amazing as mine._

I shoved my letter in the envelope and scribbled Iz's name across the front. When I looked to my right, I saw Emmett smiling at his phone with a slight blush on his cheeks. He looked over and met my stare, seeing a smirk on my lips. He rolled his eyes and shoved his phone back in his pocket.

"Who ya texting, Emmett?" I asked in an amused tone even though I was pretty sure I already knew the answer.

"Rosalie." He said as he continued writing his letter.

I smiled. "You two seem to be in constant communication since Saturday." I said as I crossed my arms. "Have you asked her to be your girlfriend yet?"

Emmett sat up a little straighter and looked at me, trying to hide his smile but failed. "Actually, I have." He said and my jaw dropped.

"For real?"

"Yeah. I like her, she likes me so I asked and she said yes." He said with a shrug. "Maybe you should think about doing the same with Bella. Nobody's sure why you guys aren't dating yet."

I sighed and slumped down in my desk, unable to give him an answer. I know that I want Bella to be my girlfriend but there was only a week of school left. After that we had two weeks of summer, and then our band, All Time Low, is off on their first Warped Tour experience for the rest of the summer. Would Bella really want to be tied down to someone who wasn't going to be around for her last summer as a kid? Probably not.

Emmett reached over and patted my shoulder with a sympathetic half smile on his face. "Just give it a shot, bro. We both know that you want to."

I nodded and Emmett patted my arm again before pulling out his phone to reply to the new text message that Rosalie had sent him. The bell rang and we both gathered our stuff. Emmett said goodbye to me so he could go greet Rosalie and I walked to my locker where I saw Bella leaned against it with one leg crossed over the other.

"Hey beautiful." I said as I swooped down and captured her lips on mine. She grinned into the kiss and wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me closer.

"Hey handsome." She said with a cheeky grin after was separated.

"Did you hear about Emmett and Rosalie?" I asked as I leaned against the locker next to her and then pulled her so that she was standing between my legs and I could wrap my arms around her waist.

"Yeah." She said with a smile. "Rose is ecstatic. She wants the four of us to hang out this weekend and do like a double date type thing."

I nodded. "That would be cool."

"I'm glad you feel that way." she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck again. "Because I already told her that we would."

"Bossy." I said with a smirk and she giggled lightly before pressing her lips to mine.

"You love it."

**Bella's POV**

_Anthony,  
I'm so glad that you had such a great time at Prom! It sounds to me like you really, really need to ask this girl out because she probably feels the same way about you. I mean from what I know about you, you seem like a great guy, so this girl is really lucky. I also had an amazing time at Prom. Yeah, I can definitely say that it was the best day of my life. Something completely unexpected happened. And a friend and I resolved an ongoing issue, so that just made it even better. Like you, my date was incredible. I doubt that I would have had as good of a time if I would have gone with someone else. Oh, and I'm about 99.9% sure that I'm currently experience my first love. Exciting!  
Iz._

_PS, can you believe that school is almost over?_

Rosalie sipped her pink lemonade as we looked through a rack at Deliah's. Every now and then we would pull a shirt out and hold it against out body for the other one to judge, and then we'd go back to looking. She furrowed her brow as she held up a light and dark purple striped shirt.

"Do you think Emmett would like this?" she asked as she bit her lip and moved some of her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

I smiled lightly. "I'm sure he'll love it."

Rosalie frowned and sighed heavily. "You've said that every time I've asked you." She whined.

"That's because I'm sure that he'll love any shirt that you pick out."

She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway as she flipped through a few more shirts. I chuckled lightly as she bit her lip again looking back and forth between two shirts, finally deciding on the striped shirt.

"I'm just really nervous, I want this to go really well." She said, referring to the date that her and Emmett were having in just two and a half hours.

"Rose, I'm sure that it'll go great. Edward says that Emmett won't shut up about you or this date."

"Really?" she asked as she bit her lip again.

"Really." I said and gave her a reassuring smile as I drug her up to the cashier.

I sighed, feeling envious of the fact that Rosalie and Emmett are already dating. Prom was just two days ago and Emmett already knew that he liked Rosalie enough to ask, and Rosalie knew that she likes Emmett enough to say yes. Edward and I have been whatever it is that we are for almost four months and he never even so much as hinted at being anything more.

I wanted what Emmett and Rosalie have; a real official relationship. Edward and I held hands and kissed at school, hung out on weekends, and texted frequently. But he wasn't my boyfriend and I'm not his girlfriend and that made my heart ache. I know that I love him and want to be with him officially, but how could I make him see that without coming right out and saying it or sounding desperate?

My phone buzzed in my hands and I looked down seeing a new text from Edward. A smile spread onto my lips automatically as I opened the message.

_**Hey pretty girl, what are you doing tonight?**_

_Nothing yet. But I'm hoping that this certain cute boy might change that for me._

_**Well this cute boy would love to take you out tonight**._

_Pick me up at seven?_

_**I'll see you then.**_

Maybe Edward felt the same way.

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	25. Chapter 25

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

Emmett and I sat next to each other on the bleachers in the gym with everyone else in our senior comp class, and the four other classes. We each held an envelope in our hands and inside that envelope is our final letter from our pen pal and with that, their real name. My leg bounced up and down in anticipation as I waited for Armstrong to end his speech and allow us to open our envelopes.

"Alright, I know this is killing all of you so go ahead and open your letters." Armstrong said with a smile and I tore mine open and let my eyes take in every word.

_Anthony,  
I can't believe that this is my final letter to you. Over the course of this semester you've become one of my good friends without even knowing what you look like. I know that I thought that this whole pen pal deal was dumb in the beginning, but I can honestly say that I'm sad to see this end. You've listened to a lot. From my parents' divorce to me constantly talking about the boy I like and I greatly appreciate it. You're a great person and I can't wait to finally know who you are._

_PS, I'm Isabella Swan_

My mouth dropped open and I quickly scanned the gym to see if I could find her. I grabbed Emmett, who had a scowl on his face, and began to shake his shoulders making him grumble and push me off. He saw my huge smile and gave me a confused look.

"You're not going to believe who my fucking pen pal is!" I said with the huge grin plastered on my face.

"No dude, you're not going to believe who mine is." Emmett said with a shake of his head. "Rachel Arms, can you believe it dude. I fucking hate that girl and I've been writing to her all semester."

"Emmett, whatever man." I said as I rolled my eyes. "Ask me who my pen pal is." I said with another grin.

"Who's your pen pal, Edward?" he asked lamely and I rolled my eyes.

"Edward!" We both hear yelled and we looked down at the front of the gym. Bella and Rosalie were standing together both with letters in their hands. Bella was smiling widely as her eyes scanned the bleachers to try to find me.

"No fucking way." Emmett said as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Way dude, check this out." I said as I held up my letter and pointed to her name.

"Oh my God, you're seriously the luckiest person I know!" He said as he punched my arm and I laughed. "What the fuck as you still doing sitting here, go down and get her!" Emmett yelled and I quickly stood up.

Bella's eyes locked on me as I hurried down the bleachers. I picked her up, spinning her around and she tossed her head back as she laughed loudly. Her small arms wrapped around my neck and she brought her face down to mine, kissing me lips over and over again.

"I told Rosalie weeks ago that I thought that you were my pen pal." She said with a huge smile on her lips. "We even tired to set it up so you would go to the mall and we could know for sure, but you ruined it because you were already going to the mall that day." She said as she fake glared at me.

"No, no, no." I said as I set her back on the ground. "I just told you that Emmett and I already had plans to going. But I just told you that because I needed an excuse so I could go find out who my pen pal was." she laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe this." She said, still grinning. "No wonder I loved writing to you so much."

I grinned back at her and pecked her lips. "I was thinking the same thing."

Bella grabbed my hand and entwined it with hers as Emmett came down from the bleachers and kissed Rosalie. The four of us walked out of the gym and to my locker as we continued talking about how this is the last day of high school.

"In celebration of our last day of high school, All Time Low is performing tonight at the Township Hall. You're coming, right?" I asked Bella.

"Yeah, you're coming right?" Emmett asked as he bounced up and down beside her.

"Yeah, I'll be there." She said and I pecked her lips.

"Good."

**Bella's POV**

_Iz,  
I can't believe that school is over tomorrow. No more school for me, ever. And I can truthfully say that this is the only thing that I'll miss about it. Writing to you, that is. You're a really cool girl and I hope once I know who you are we can continue to stay in touch and remain friends. Because I would be terribly disappointed if we didn't. You're so easy to talk to, you get me, and you don't judge me. You're one in a million, Iz, and I'm just glad that I was given the opportunity to get to know you. This pen pal thing turned out much better than I ever expected it to. And I know that I got the greatest pen pal ever._

_PS, I'm Edward Cullen._

I smiled as I read the letter for what was probably the fiftieth time already. Rosalie grinned at me as I stuffed the letter back in the envelop and then back into my purse. I was right all along, and I was so glad. I honestly couldn't picture a better ending for school than this.

"Emmett says that we need to get there at 7:30 so he can get us backstage." Rosalie said as she looked up from her phone.

I nodded as I looked at all the clothes I had strewn across my bed. I picked up my black skinny jeans, pale yellow vneck shirt and black grey vest and then looked over at Rosalie, who nodded.

"That'll look cute." She said and I smiled at her as I walked into the bathroom to change. Rosalie did my makeup and hair once I came out and then she changed and left so we could get there on time.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach when my eyes landed on Edward; something that always happened when I saw him, but still haven't managed to get used to yet. He wrapped me up in his arms and planted a kiss on my lips, smiling into it.

"Are you nervous?" I asked as I peeked around the side and saw the venue was packed. Edward tugged me pack as that my back was pressed against his chest and rested his head on my shoulder, kissing my neck gently.

"I'm always nervous when I'm around you." He mumbled in my ear and I blushed.

"I meant about performing."

"Oh," he said and laughed lightly. "No, I'm not nervous about that at all."

I turned around in his embrace and let my forehead press against his as my eyes stayed glued to his. We both wore matching smiles and I could feel my heart start to beat faster. My eyes closed and I sighed in contentment, not wanting to move. I felt Edward's lips on mine and I kissed back without a seconds hesitation.

"Edward, it's time bro." Jasper said as he walked up with his drumsticks in hand.

Edward beamed at me and captured my lips in another sweet kiss before following his band mates out on stage. I moved and stood with Alice, Rosalie, and Marcus's girlfriend Jane as we watched them perform, all of us so proud of all o them and so in love with one specific one.

The show ended much too soon for me, but then again, I could listen to them perform for days and not want them to stop. I watched as Alice kissed Jasper, Jane kissed Marcus, and Rosalie kissed Emmett. All of them kissing their boyfriends; and then there was me and Edward.

He smiled at me as he walked over with a small swagger in each step. I laughed at him, knowing that that's why he was doing it and when he got close enough I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into me as I let my lips collide with his.

"Hey, Bella" Edward mumbled against my lips and I felt goose bumps break out all over my body. "I have to ask you something." He said as he continued to peck my lips.

I pulled away and bit my lip as I tried to keep my hopes low. I didn't want to make myself believe that he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend because I didn't want to be letdown. And a big part of me knew that he wouldn't ask me like this. I knew that Edward would want to come up with a much more meaningful way of asking me out then to just say it.

"What is it, Edward?" I asked softly as I kept my face close to his.

"Are you busy tomorrow after graduation?"

I shook my head and a smile crept onto his lips. "Good because I want you to come over to my house afterwards. It's a whole family gathering kind of thing."

"And you want me there because?" I asked as I trailed off and Edward smirked at me.

"You'll have to show up to find out."

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AWWW! They found out! However, the story is almost over and only a few chapters are left. But go check out my other story_** I'm A Walking Travesty**_ for some more BXE drama.

ReViEw! rEvIeW! ReViEw! rEvIeW!


	26. Chapter 26

**You really don't need to here what I was going to say since you already know.**

**Edward's POV**

I had my arms wrapped tightly around Bella's waist and planted a kiss on her cheek as her parents and mine snapped pictures of us dressed in our cap and gowns. Emmett and Rosalie hopped into our picture and we all had our arms linked around each other as we smiled for all the flashes.

"I can't wait to get my diploma." I said to Bella as I grinned and laced my hand with hers, pulling her to where we had to line up at.

"Can you believe this is going to be the last time we're ever going to be here?" she asked as she looked around the gym and then back at me.

I kissed her lips lightly, letting mine linger for a second just to take it all in. "I'm stoked. We're moving on to bigger and much better things. It's going to be awesome."

Our principal called for us to get in our line and I grinned at Bella, kissing her a final time before turning away to go get in line. All throughout the ceremony I couldn't shake my excitement or the urge to turn around and look at Bella. Every time I did, she was beaming.

When I walked across the stage and shook the principles hand with my right hand, accepting my diploma with my left just as we had all practiced I felt a huge weight being lifted off of my shoulders. And when the entire class tossed their caps up in the air, I felt on top of the world. I was officially done with school forever.

Bella ran at me, throwing her body against mine as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her lips against mine, both of us grinning like idiots. "This is the best day ever." She mumbled against my lips.

"Just wait, it's gonna get better." I said with a smirk and she raised her eyebrows.

"Come on, party at Edward's!" Emmett yelled as he bounced up and down beside us with Rosalie's hand grasped in his own.

Bella followed me to my car and we hopped inside, peeling out of the school parking lot for the final time. I heard her sigh and I reached over, taking her hand in mine.

"What's up?" I asked as I noticed her frown.

She shrugged. "I just can't believe we're done with high school. Everything is happening so quickly. I mean, everything is changing."

I grazed my thumb across the top of her hand and her eyes darted to mine. A warm smile took over my lips, which eventually made her smile too. "Not everything is changing." I said slyly as I pulled into my driveway and shut off my car.

I pulled Bella into my house and we sat around a table with Emmett, Marcus, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper. We talked about the memories formed over our four years of high school and then Bella left for a moment, coming back with a small bag and placing it in front of me.

"What is this?" I asked as I pulled her down on my lap.

"Just a little gift." She said with a smile.

I grinned up at her as I pulled out the few pieces of tissue paper, wading them into balls and throwing them at Emmett. I then reached in and pulled out a pictured frame and inside was the picture of Bella and I in her front yard on Prom. It was the one where I was standing behind her with my arms wrapped around her waist and my head rest on her shoulder; both of us grinning.

"It's so you won't forget me while you're touring." She said as she smiled.

"Aw" Emmett and Jasper cooed making Bella roll her eyes.

I smiled up at her and kissed her lips. "Come with me." I whispered in her ear as we stood up and I took her hand in mine, leading her up to my room. I walked over to my nightstand and pulled out an envelope that had her name written across the front and handed it to her. She smiled and opened it and I watched as her eyes scanned the words.

_Bella,  
First, I would like to start off by saying that it's really weird to write you a letter and address it to you and not 'Iz'. I just want to take the time to tell you how happy I am that I started talking to you this year. I don't know why I never got to know you before, but I'm glad that I know you now. You've had a major impact on me in ways that you don't even know. I came to school just to be able to write to you. You're incredible, Bella. You truly are and I'm just so honored to be able to know you. Each kiss feels like a privilege; I just can't believe that you like me. I know I may be a little late for thing, but I'm hoping that this still works out. Bella, will you be my girlfriend?  
Edward_

_PS, I love you._

**Bella's POV**

A smile spread onto my lips as I read Edward's letter. I folded it into fours and slipped into my back pocket and then walked over to him and kissed his lips passionately. His hands would my hips and he pulled me closer as we continued to kiss, but eventually pulled back and looked at me.

"Is that a yes?"

I gave him a devilish smirk and pulled myself out of his grasp. Edward's eyes watched me as I picked up his notebook off the ground and ripped out a sheet of paper, then grabbed a pencil and started writing. Once I was done I folded the paper and put it in my pocket and walked out of his room.

"Bella." He whined as he tugged me back into him and I giggled.

"You made me wait this long for you to ask, I think you can wait awhile before I tell you my reply." I said as I pulled him back downstairs.

We walked down just as his mom started a DVD of old pictures of him. Edward blushed and tried to cover my eyes as pictures of him from the day he was born up until Prom were played on the tv. Every now and then his parents or Emmett would tell the story that went with the picture making everyone laugh and Edward would just roll his eyes, but still smile.

"Edward, do you remember the time that you ripped your pants in eighth grade?" Emmett asked and Jasper started cracking up.

"Yeah, bro." Edward said with a chuckle. "Thanks for bring that up. Remember the time you got a boner in the middle of Science class?"

Rosalie laughed from beside Emmett and he stuck his tongue out at Edward. I excused myself to go get a drink out of the kitchen. I picked up a plastic cup and filled it with water and when I turned around Edward was blocking the doorway with a grin on his face.

"I hope you know that you're not leaving this room until I get that piece of paper."

I laughed lightly and set my glass down on the counter as Edward walked closer. He backed me against the counter and placed his hands on my hips, leaving no space between us. "It's been, like two hours." He said lowly in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

"I'll give it to you when everybody leaves." I said seductively in his ear.

"I'm just going to kiss you now because I'm pretty sure I know what it says." He said

"You're so sure of yourself, aren't you?" I asked exasperated. He began kissing down my neck. "If you read it now you won't get the rest of your graduation present later."

"If you give it to me now, I'll give you your graduation present later." He pulled back and quirked his eyebrow. I surrendered.

_Edward,  
You are, without a doubt, the most amazing guy I have ever met. I'm so glad that we collided that one day in the hallway because we've had some amazing times over this year. I will never forget Prom and how incredible it was all because of you. You're the sweetest boy in the world and I can't believe that you like me. It blows my mind that out of every girl out there, you want to be with me. But I'm not complaining because, of course, I want to be your girlfriend.  
Bella._

_PS, I love you too._

"So, when do I get this present?" I asked excited.

He smirked. "After everyone gets the hell out of my house."


End file.
